The Secrets That We Keep
by Ruby Sapphire Rose
Summary: 1st story in my "Hearts Never Lie" series. Korra goes through the unthinkable to keep her deepest secret hidden, believing in her heart that it's reveal will cause her to lose everyone she holds dear. But when her secret does come out, will her fears be proven true? WARNINGS ON PROFILE! PLEASE R&R!
1. A Deal For Silence

**Everything except for the characters that are mine belong to Bryke and Nickelodeon (I'm going to reveal them in the chapter that they first appear in so I don't give anything away).**

**This is the first story in my "Hearts Never Lie" series and takes place after the Book 1 episode "The Aftermath". Everything up until this point is the same as it was in the series except for the reason behind the Makorra kiss at the arena (more about that in this chapter), but starting now, most of the events of this story will be different from what they were in the series.**

**One more thing, this story is VERY anti-Mako, which is weird because I really like him (most of the time anyway). But this story just popped into my head one day and wouldn't go away until I wrote it down. Also, this series features mentions of abuse, rape (though I never describe the act in detail), and a same-sex couple with a large age difference and a transgendered character. If you do not agree with any of these themes, stop reading now.**

**THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING!**

**With all that said, here is the first chapter...**

Lin Bei Fong sat on the bed in her guest room on Air Temple Island, waiting for the healer to examine her and feeling like a complete failure in the meantime. The raid on Hiroshi

Sato's secret factory had been a disaster and had left her seriously injured while Amon took her officers prisoner. That madman was probably taking their bending away right

then, and it was all Lin's fault. She'd been the one who had led them down to the basement into Sato's trap. She was just starting to wonder where the healer was when she

heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," she said.

The door slid open and, to Lin's surprise, it wasn't the healer who walked into the room. Instead, in walked Korra, holding a towel and rolled up bandage in one hand and a

pitcher of water in the other.

"Avatar? What are you doing here?" Lin asked. "Where's the healer?"

"I convinced Tenzin to let me heal you instead," Korra said. "That way we don't have to wake the healer."

"And what exactly qualifies you to be a healer?" Lin asked.

"I was trained by Master Katara. Not that I'll ever be as good as her or Master Kya, but I know enough to keep someone alive and I can definitely heal the injuries you have," Korra said. "Now do you want to feel better or not?"

Lin was silent for a few moments as she thought it over. Korra was trained by the best healer in the world and at that point, the pain was becoming unbearable.

"Fine," Lin said.

"Good," Korra said. "Now, take off your armor. Do you need help standing?"

Lin immediately shook her head. It was bad enough that she couldn't hide her pain; she didn't want the Avatar to think she was a complete invalid. She slowly stood up and

bent all of her armor off, grimacing the whole time. While Lin was doing this, Korra placed the pitcher, towel, and bandage on the bedside table. She turned back in time to see

Lin ease herself back down on the bed, clad in a white undershirt and black pants.

"Okay, now tell me where you're having pain," Korra said.

"It's my sides mostly," Lin said. "But my right shoulder hurts too."

Korra nodded.

"We'll check out the shoulder first," she said. "Try to relax. I'll be as gentle as I can."

She placed both her hands on Lin's shoulder to determine if it was dislocated. Lin gritted her teeth as she continued to try and hide her pain, finally letting out the breath she

had been holding when Korra let go of the injured shoulder.

"Good, it's still in place," Korra said. "Looks like all it needs is some healing and a little rest. I'm going to use the water now. Just hold still, this'll be cold."

Lin nodded and prepared herself as Korra bent the water out of the pitcher and placed her water-covered hands on Lin's shoulder. Her gasp quickly turned into a sigh of relief as

the pain faded away. After a few moments, Korra returned the water to the pitcher.

"Try not to use that shoulder for the next few days," she said. "Now lift up your arms so I can check if any of your ribs are broken. "

Lin raised her arms as high as the pain would allow her, allowing Korra to gently press her hands against Lin's ribs.

"It feels like you may have broken a couple of ribs on your right side and cracked or bruised some on your left," Korra said. "I can put the bones back in place, but I'm going to have to wrap them so that they'll stay in place while they're healing."

"I know," Lin said. "Katara healed enough of my broken bones when I was a kid."

Korra smirked.

"So the great chief of police was a troublemaker as a kid." she said.

"Not as much as my sister was," Lin thought to herself.

"I'm not going to lie, this is going to hurt a lot," Korra said as she grabbed the towel and sat next to Lin on the bed. "I'm going to give you the towel to bite on, but I want you to hang on to me while I heal you. I'm also going to need for you to have your shirt off. "

Lin was about to tell her that the towel would be enough, but Korra stopped her.

"No excuses," She said as she folded up the towel. "Don't worry about hurting me, I've got tough skin. Now turn and face me and raise your arms back up so I can take your shirt off."

Lin reluctantly did what she was told, and raised her arms again so Korra could get the shirt off her, leaving Lin in just her upper bindings. After placing the towel in the

metalbender's mouth, Korra wrapped Lin's right arm around her shoulders. Lin tucked her left arm around Korra's waist, bracing herself as the avatar bent the cold water from

the pitcher.

"Ready?" Korra asked.

Lin nodded and Korra placed her glowing water covered hands on her right side, hearing Lin's muffled scream and feeling the grip on her shoulders and waist tighten as she

slowly healed her.

"Just hold on," Korra said. "I'm almost done."

When the ribs were finally back in place, she removed her hands and bent the water back to the pitcher. Lin's head fell onto her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, just rest for a bit and let me know when you're ready to keep going," Korra said. "I promise the other side won't hurt as much."

Lin shook her head and grumbled into the towel.

"What?" Korra asked.

Lin reached up and pulled the towel out of her mouth.

"Keep going."

"Are you sure?" Korra asked.

"Just do it," Lin said.

Korra nodded and rearranged Lin's arms before she started bending again. Though there was less pain than when her right side was healed, Lin still gritted her teeth and clung

tightly to Korra until it was over. Korra let her rest for a few moments before continuing. With her face so close to Korra's neck, Lin could smell the unique scent of ocean water,

which was strangely comforting. But as much as she wanted to remain like this, Lin also knew that having feelings like this for someone that young was wrong on so many levels

and would only end in heartbreak for the both of them, so she reluctantly pulled away. Korra picked up the bandage from the table and wrapped it around Lin's ribs. After

securing it, she helped Lin put her shirt back on and headed for the door with the towel and pitcher in hand. She turned around as she reached the door and frowned at Lin

trying to get out of bed.

"What are you doing?" Korra asked.

"I need to write my resignation letter so I can turn it in tomorrow morning and start getting my officers back," Lin said.

"You can do that in the morning," Korra said. "Tenzin has a council meeting and told me to tell you that he would take your letter to the city with him. And as much as you don't want to hear this, you and I both know that your officers' bending is probably gone by now. You're in no condition to help them, so just get some sleep and tomorrow you can come up with a plan. I'll even help you if you want."

Lin sighed. Korra was right.

"Alright," Lin said, lying down and pulling the thin blanket up to her shoulders.

"I'll see you in the morning," Korra said.

She turned and slid the door open. She was about to leave when Lin spoke up again.

"Korra," she said.

Korra turned around, her blue eyes surprised. Lin realized she'd never called the avatar by her name before.

"Yeah?" Korra asked.

"Thank you," Lin said.

Korra smiled.

"Don't mention it, Lin," she said. "Good night."

"Good night," Lin said.

Korra walked out to the hall and softly shut the door behind her.

After returning the pitcher and towel to the kitchen, Korra made her way back to her room for some much needed sleep. She was almost at the entrance to the women's

dormitory when something grabbed her and pulled her behind a tree. Korra prepared herself to fight off whoever it was, but she relaxed when she got a better look at the

person's face.

"Mako?" she asked. "What are you doing here? This is the women's dormitory."

"I know," he said. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay,"

"I'm fine. Nothing that some rest won't cure," she said. "See you in the morning."

She tried to walk away from him, but he grabbed her by the arm again and pulled her back.

"You know, when I found you lying on the floor, it made me realize just how much you mean to me," he said.

"You mean a lot to me too, Mako," Korra said. "You, Asami, and Bolin are my best friends."

"No, Korra," he said. "My feelings for you are way deeper than just best friends."

He leaned forward to kiss her. Korra pushed him away.

"We went over this, Mako," she said. "I told you I wasn't comfortable with it after you pulled me into that kiss at the probending arena, remember? Besides, you have a girlfriend, one whose life was just turned upside down! What kind of boyfriend are you, hitting on me while your girlfriend is probably crying herself to sleep?"

Mako stared at her. "I feel bad for Asami, but that doesn't change my feelings for you," he said. "Come on, I know you'll change your mind about me if you get a taste of what I'm offering."

Korra's mouth fell open in shock at what he'd just said.

"Are you crazy?" she demanded. "There's no way I would EVER do that with you! I'm going to bed. Leave me alone!"

She tried to walk away, and Mako once again grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"What are you doing?" She tried to yank her arm free. "Let go of me!"

"You will do this, Korra, or I'll tell everyone who you truly are," he warned. "How do you think Bolin is going to react when he finds out? Asami? I've seen how you look at her. You know that they share the same feelings I do about people like you. And Tenzin, how do you think he'll react when he finds out that someone like you has been around his wife and children?"

Korra glared at him, knowing that she had no choice. If she didn't do what he said, she would lose all the people that she now considered her family.

"Fine, I'll do it," she said. "But you're going to have to get me some kind of protection. Air Acolytes don't use birth control and there's no way I can get some from a healer without being noticed in the city."

"Don't worry, I know just where to get you birth control," he said. "Just be ready tomorrow night after everyone goes to bed. I'll sneak in through the window."

Before she could stop him, he leaned forward and kissed her cheek.

"See you in the morning," he said.

A sick feeling began to grow in her stomach as she watched him walk away.


	2. The First Night

The next night, Korra sat on her bed, waiting for the knock on her window that signaled Mako's arrival. She had just returned along with Asami, Bolin, and Mako from patrolling

the city and Korra had been so caught up in the excitement of it that she almost forgot about her arrangement with the firebender.

That morning, he ran up to her as she was walking to breakfast and quickly placed a small velvet back in her hand.

"One spoonful of herbs per cup, and make sure your stomach is empty when you take them," he'd whispered before continuing on to the dining room.

Korra had quickly hid the pouch in her airbending robes as the sick feeling in her stomach starting to come back. A feeling that continued to plague her onto the afternoon, when

she ran into the bathroom in the women's dormitory after airbending practice and prepared the tea using the herbs and a cup and spoon she'd snuck out of the kitchen. As she'd

gulped down the tea, Korra couldn't tell if it was the hot liquid or her shame that made it burn as it went down her throat.

After saying goodnight to the brothers and walking back to the women's dormitory with Asami, Korra bade her friend good night and went to her room. She grabbed the spoon

and cup she had used that afternoon and another small pouch made of red cloth and returned to the bathroom to brew herself another cup of tea. This time, she was using

sleeping herbs instead of the contraceptive ones. She had gotten them after she'd told Tenzin and Pema she was having nightmares about her failed confrontation with Amon on

Avatar Aang Memorial Island. Even though Pema had given her enough herbs to last a couple weeks, Korra had stopped taking them after only two days, but kept them around

in case the nightmares came back.

Earlier that day, while she and Tenzin had been flying back to the island after Saikhan's inauguration, she'd come up with an idea to stop Mako. She would take enough herbs to

make her too drowsy to do more than greet Mako and then fall asleep, forcing him to stop before getting too far. She quickly made herself another cup of tea with the herbs

from the red pouch and drank it all in one gulp before returning to her room, knowing that Mako could be there at any moment. She quickly hid the cup, spoon, and herbs, then

took a seat on the bed. A few moments later, she heard a soft knock on her window. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to the window and opened it. Mako quickly climbed

into room and shut the window behind him, and then he turned back to Korra, who was starting to feel the effects of the herbs.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Fine," she said as she started to take off her shirt. "Let's just get this over with."

Mako stopped her.

"No rushing," he said as he pulled her into his arms. "I want us both to remember this."

The next thing Korra knew, Mako was kissing her full on the lips, and she was fighting her instinct to push him away. The kiss lasted a few minutes before Mako pulled away,

grabbed the bottom of her shirt, and roughly pulled it over her head.

"Get in the bed," he said.

While Korra did as he said, Mako took off his shirt and undershirt. He laid down on top of her and kissed her hard before moving down to her neck.

"Easy," she said. "I don't want to have to explain any bruises!"

Mako smirked. "Don't worry," he said. "I'll be marking you in a place only I will be able to find."

Korra went quiet as Mako continued down her body. She flinched as Mako pulled off her upper bindings and licked her breasts.

"Relax and enjoy this, sweetie," he said. "You know what will happen if you don't."

She closed her eyes and forced herself to remain still as Mako kissed down her stomach, hoping that she would pass out before Mako could go any further. A minute later, just

after her removed the fur around her waist, unfastened her pants, and was pulling them and her underwear down, she finally did.

The sunrise shining through her open window woke Korra the next morning. As she woke up fully, she looked around the room and sighed in relief when she didn't see Mako.

She sat up and stretched, but she stopped when she felt an ache in her lower stomach and a burning between her legs. She opened her eyes and gasped at what she saw. She

was completely naked, and her inner thighs were coated with dried, flaking semen tinged with blood. A small purple hickey decorated the inside of her left thigh.

Anger and sadness filled Korra. Despite everything she had done to prevent it, Mako had taken her virginity. Not only that, but he he'd done it while she'd been unconscious.

Never in her life had she felt more disgusted with herself than she did at that moment.

Just then, a breeze blew through the window and sent a piece of paper billowing from the bedside table onto Korra's lap. She picked it up and read it:

Sorry I left before saying goodnight. You just looked so peaceful lying there that I didn't have the heart to wake you up.

See you at breakfast.

P.S. Don't think that last night was a one-time thing.


	3. A Ceremony and A Birthday

**Ketu, Tashi, Izayoi, and the baby (you'll find out the name in this chapter) are mine. **

**Also, the outfit that Lin is wearing this chapter is the same one she wears at the end of "Old Wounds", except the big sleeves are gone, the long sleeves go up to her shoulders and are grey instead of green. **

**Enjoy the chapter... **

As the days passed, Team Avatar's nightly patrols of the city continued, as did Mako's nightly visits to Korra's room.

Every morning before breakfast, Korra would wake up and change into her airbending robes, hide her supplies inside them, and sneak into the bathroom in the women's

dormitory to make her first cup of tea. After gulping it down, she would quickly go back to her room and hide the items before either Jinora and Ikki would knock on her door to

tell her it was time for breakfast. Then at night, after everyone returned from the city and headed to their respective rooms, Korra would repeat the process with her sleeping

herbs and wait for Mako's knock on her window. Every night, she would pass out as Mako got her clothes off, and every morning she would wake up alone and wearing only the

evidence of what had happened.

One morning, a week after Asami and the brothers had moved onto the island, Korra was picking at her food. Her appetite that had begun to diminish as a result of what Mako

was doing to her.

"Korra, why aren't you eating?" Jinora asked. "You're going to need your strength for airbending practice."

Korra looked up at her. "I'm just not hungry this morning," she said.

"Are you getting sick?" Ikki asked. "Do you have to go back to bed and rest? Does this airbending practice is canceled for all of us?"

"Ikki, that enough. Finish your breakfast," Pema scolded. "If Korra isn't hungry, then she doesn't have to eat."

"And just because Korra is too ill to practice airbending doesn't mean that practice is cancelled for the rest of you," Tenzin said.

Korra turned to him.

"I'm not sick Tenzin; I'm just not hungry is all." she said.

Tenzin nodded, though he looked concerned.

"Well, Jinora is right," he said. "You are going to be needing your strength today, though it will not be for airbending practice."

"So there is no practice today?" Meelo asked, getting excited.

"For Korra, yes. For the three of you, no," Tenzin said.

All three kids groaned as their father dashed their hopes. Tenzin turned back to Korra.

"I'm taking you over to Lin's apartment after breakfast for a healing session," he said. "But the real reason that practice is cancelled for today is because I need your help for an event that will begin at sundown tonight and last until tomorrow night."

"What is it?" Korra asked.

"Ketu and Tashi's imprinting ceremony," he said. "I believe that officiating it will help you with the spiritual block you've been having."

Korra couldn't believe what she was hearing. She knew what an imprinting ceremony was, since they were still practiced in the Water Tribes. Some couples still had them

instead of a regular wedding, while others had both ceremonies to keep with Water Tribe tradition. Most mixed-nationality couples opted to have the imprinting ceremony so that

the non-Water Tribe spouse would be embraced as a Water Tribe citizen.

The imprinting ceremony always began with the couple mediating with the tribe's shaman all night during a full moon. Next they went to the shaman's hut and, in front of their

family and friends, sat hand in hand while the shaman blessed them over them and carved a symbol of their love into their chests, right over their hearts. After the wounds

healed just enough to leave a scar, the shaman would declare the couple husband and wife. Then the couple would rest until nightfall, when their families would host a huge

celebration that would last until dawn.

Korra had never heard of a same sex couple having imprinting ceremonies, though. Whenever she'd asked her parents or Katara why this was, they just got quiet and would

usually change the subject. It wasn't until she was older that she'd found out.

"You mean, they can have an imprinting ceremony even though they're both guys?" she asked Tenzin.

Bolin looked at her in confusion.

"Of course they can, Korra. Why would that matter?"

"Because, Bolin, same sex couples aren't allowed to have imprinting ceremonies in the Water Tribes," Tenzin said.

Korra nodded.

"In the Northern Tribe, people who fall in love with their own gender are actually banished," she said.

"What about the Southern Tribe?" Asami asked.

"We don't have a problem with it," Korra said. "In fact, most of the people who are banished from the North often settle in the South because we're so accepting. But since the people of the Southern Tribe have to follow the same laws as the people in the North, same sex imprinting ceremonies aren't allowed there either."

She looked over at Tenzin.

"Are you sure Ketu and Tashi are okay with me taking part in their ceremony?" she asked.

"Positive," Tenzin said. "In fact, when I brought up the idea, they were both excited that it would be you leading them into this next phase of their lives."

He gestured to Asami and the brothers.

"You all are invited also," he said.

"Really?" Asami asked. "Even though we don't know the couple?"

Tenzin nodded.

"Whenever there is a big event here, everyone on the island is invited," he said. "That includes you three."

"Wow, I've never been to any kind of imprinting ceremony before!" Bolin said.

"Tenzin, I don't know the first thing about officiating an imprinting ceremony," Korra said. "I've only been to a couple when I was little, and both times I fell asleep from boredom during the ceremony at the shaman's hut. And I wasn't allowed to go to the nighttime celebration because I was too young."

"Don't worry," Tenzin said. "I'll explain everything to you on the way to the city."

Korra nodded and, even though she still wasn't hungry, managed to eat half of her meal before she and Tenzin left for the city.

Meanwhile, at her apartment in the city, Lin had just finished her own breakfast and was walking into her living room carrying two moon peaches- Izayoi's favorite food. Most

people would find it strange that someone with Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation roots would like the Air Nation fruit, but Izayoi had loved them. Lin gently placed the moon

peaches on the coffee table, then walked over to the small cabinet that was next to the bookshelf. She opened the cabinet and took out two sticks of incense, a holder for them,

and some matches. After closing the doors to the cabinet, she moved to the top of it, where there were four framed pictures. Most of the pictures showed a younger-looking Lin

and a beautiful woman in her thirties with a rounded stomach. Lin could still remember the look on Izayoi's face the day they'd reached the fourth month and the tears of

happiness had replaced the tears of devastation from their first two tries.

Since they hadn't had any professional pictures taken of them, even during their wedding in Zaofu two years before, both Lin and Izayoi had decided to have pictures done after

the baby was born. Those plans had changed when Su had called and told them to come to Zaofu to be part of a family portrait. The photographer had not only taken a picture

of the entire family, but he'd taken one for each family and family member. Lin and Izayoi had come home with four pictures that day. One featured Lin by herself in her

uniform. Another showed Lin behind Izayoi, hand on her shoulder, while the latter sat on a metal bench. Yet another picture had the two of them standing and kissing under a

tree; Lin was behind Izayoi, her hands cradling the six-month pregnant stomach, and Izayoi's hands covered Lin's. However, the one that Lin picked up from the top of the

cabinet was her favorite. It was of Izayoi leaning against the same tree and smiling down at the stomach she was holding lovingly. They'd had no idea that just a month later...

Lin shook her head, clearing it of memories.

"No," she said to herself. "Not today."

She went back over to the coffee table and arranged everything on it before walking down the hall to her bedroom. After taking a shower, rewrapping her ribs, and changing into

a grey and black outfit, she walked over to her dresser where two gold urns sat. The urns had the symbol of the Fire Nation engraved on them, as well as the name of the

person whose ashes each contained. Next to them was a green velvet bag. Lin opened it and pulled out a circular gold locket with the symbol of the Earth Kingdom on the front,

followed by a gold bracelet, similar to the one that Toph had, with a ruby on each end. Lin slipped the bracelet onto her left arm. She placed the locket around the lid of the

bigger urn, picked it up, and looked at the smaller one.

"Don't worry, I'll bring her back," she said, then turned and went back to the living room.

She sat the urn next to the picture of Izayoi and knelt in front of the coffee table. Next, she put the incense in the holder, lit a match, and was about to light the sticks when she

heard a knock at the door. Lin sighed; she had forgotten that Korra was supposed to come over for a healing session that day. Blowing out the match, she got up, walked to the

door, and opened it to find Korra and Tenzin on the other side.

"'Morning Avatar, Tenzin," she said. "Come on, let's get this over with."

She led inside them inside her apartment and then led Korra back to her bedroom while Tenzin waited in the living room, the same room he had waited in every other day since

Lin had left Air Temple Island the morning after the failed raid of the Sato mansion.

Lin shut the door to her bedroom and took off her bracelet and the top part of her outfit, knowing by now that it had to be off for Korra to heal her.

"Your shoulder must be feeling better if you're using it," Korra said.

"I haven't had any pain since the last session," Lin said.

Korra walked into the bathroom, placed the stopper in the drain of the sink, and turned the water on. When she had enough to cover her hands, she turned off the water, bent it

onto her hands, and walked back into the bedroom. Lin, who had unbound her ribs in the meantime, was waiting on the bed.

"What about your ribs?" Korra asked.

"There's still some pain, but nothing I can't handle," Lin said.

Korra nodded and placed her hands on Lin's shoulder. As usual, Lin gasped.

"Do you have to use cold water?" she said.

"All waterbending healers do," Korra said. "It's clearer than warm water, and it helps numbs a person's pain while they're being healed."

She removed her hands.

"Your shoulder is all better," she said. "Now for your ribs."

She placed her hands on Lin's sides, one at a time, to see how they were healing.

"Well, I have some good news and some bad news," Korra said. "The good news is that your ribs have completely healed and you don't have to wear the bandages anymore."

"And the bad news?" Lin asked.

"Though your ribs are healed, they're still very bruised. So you're going to be in pain for a little while longer."

Lin nodded.

"Like I said, it's nothing I can't handle." she said.

She stood up and put her top and bracelet back on while Korra returned the water to the bathroom sink.

"By the way, have you had any luck finding your officers?" Korra asked as she walked back into the bedroom.

"No, Amon's good at covering his tracks. I've done surveillance on all the places my… the police suspected Equalists were meeting," Lin said. "But so far, nothing."

"Well, my friends and I are here if you need any help." Korra said.

Lin turned back to her.

"I've been hearing about the adventures you all have been having in the city," she said. "Please be careful Korra; Tarrlok is not a person you want as your enemy."

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"Korra, are you almost finished? We have to get back to the island," Tenzin's voice called out.

"Yeah Tenzin, we'll be right out," Korra called back.

They heard him walk back into the living room. Lin looked at Korra.

"What's he so anxious about?" she asked.

"There's some big event on the island that starts tonight, and he wants me to take part in it because he thinks it will help with the spiritual block I've been having," Korra said.

"Well, I've also got some things I need to do today," she said. "Come on, I'll walk you two out."

When they got back to the living room, they found Tenzin standing in front of the coffee table, staring sadly at the framed photograph in his hands. Korra felt Lin go tense beside

her.

"Korra, go outside," Lin said, her voice leaving no room for an argument. "I need to talk to Tenzin alone."

Korra glanced at Tenzin, who had looked up at the sound of Lin's voice. He stared directly into Lin's eyes and knew this wasn't going to end well. He quickly turned to Korra.

"Go on out and wait with Oogi, Korra. I'll be there in a few moments," he said.

Korra stood there for a few more moments, then nodded and left the apartment. As the sound of the front door closing filled the apartment, Lin walked up to her former

boyfriend and, without saying a word, snatched the picture out of Tenzin's hands. He watched her gently set the picture down on the coffee table.

"Lin, what are you doing?" he asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she said. "I'm celebrating Izayoi's birthday."

Tenzin let out a sigh.

"Lin, this has to stop. She wouldn't have wanted you to keep mourning for her after all this time." he said.

"What's wrong with celebrating my wife's birthday, Tenzin? Uncle Iroh celebrating his son's birthday every year until he passed away." she said. "And how would you know what she would have wanted? You did everything you could to avoid us after we became a couple. You never came with Pema when we invited you to dinner, you didn't come with her or the rest of your family to our wedding, you didn't even come with Pema to the hospital the night I lost Izayoi and our baby."

As Lin said those words, the memories of that night that she had been trying so hard to suppress about came flooding back to her:

The call over the radio she kept on her desk at the station from one of her officers telling her about the accident…

Racing to the hospital in her car with her flashers and siren on, not caring if it was against protocol…

Signing the paperwork giving the healer treating Izayoi permission to operate on her after he told that the only chance they had of saving both Izayoi and the baby was to

perform a c-section to get the baby out, then cracking open Izayoi's chest to heal all her internal injuries...

Pema arriving at the hospital moments after Izayoi was taken into the operating room, even though she was days away from her due date and should have been resting at

home…

Pema using the long distance radio in the waiting room to contact Zaufu and coming back to tell her that Su would be there by morning…

Izayoi's healer coming out to the waiting room and telling her that her and Izayoi's baby boy had been delivered and was now in the care of the healers in the hospital's

nursery…

Watching from the nursery viewing window as the healers worked on her son before one of them came out and told her that if he made it to morning, his chances of survival

would go up…

Sitting in a rocking chair and holding her baby when Izayoi's doctor came into the nursery and told her that Izayoi was out of surgery and being moved to the ICU and that they

had done all they could do and the rest was up to her…

Going back and forth between the ICU and the nursery for the next few hours…

Sitting at Izayoi's bedside at 3:00 a.m. when she suddenly began gasping for air, then being pushed out of the room and watching from the ICU viewing window as the healers

desperately tried to save her wife's life for the next half hour before pronouncing her dead…

Saying her last goodbyes to Izayoi, telling her that she would always love her, that she would take good care of their son, and pressing one last kiss against her cold lips…

Going to the waiting room and telling Pema the news and telling her to go home and that she would be fine until Su arrived in the morning…

Arriving back at the nursery and watching as her baby's healer walked over and told her that his little body was starting to shut down…

Sitting in the rocking chair and holding her son against her chest and placing a kiss on top of his soft head as she felt him taking his last breaths and his heartbeat slow to a

stop…

Lin was brought out of her thoughts by Tenzin's voice.

"Lin, I know we weren't close after our break up and I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you when you needed me, but you're grieving for someone who died ten years ago. It's time to move on."

Lin glared at him.

"Like you haven't grieved for your father over the past 17 years? I know for a fact that you spend the day and night of the anniversary of his death on Avatar Aang Memorial Island," she said. "And I lost two people that night, Tenzin. But you wouldn't know anything about my son."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Tenzin said.

"Izayoi and I hardly saw you after we became a couple and got married, but you outright disappeared after we announced the pregnancy. In fact, the first time I saw you in months is the all too brief appearance you made at the funeral. You gave your condolences to Saikhan and I for Izayoi and said a blessing over her urn, but never once mentioned our baby boy and stayed as far away from his urn as you possible could," she said.

Tenzin looked at her.

"You know that Pema's labor was difficult, Lin. I spent all fourteen hours worried that I was going to lose them both and seeing that small urn that day was just a reminder that I could have lost Jinora," he said. "Besides, you and I both know that you never wanted children and that you only agreed to have a baby so that Izayoi wouldn't leave you. Believe me, as sad as his death was, it was probably for the best."

Anger instantly appeared in Lin's eyes and Tenzin immediately began to regret what he said. She grabbed him by the arm and pulled towards the door, then grabbed the handle

and yanked it open.

"Get out of here, Tenzin." She said in a deathly tone. "Get out before you lose what little of a relationship you have left with me."

Knowing that she wasn't going to listen to anything else he had to say, Tenzin let out a sigh, gave her a slight nod, and walked out of the apartment, tensing as he heard and

felt Lin slam the door behind him.

Lin walked over to her front window and watched as Tenzin and Korra climbed onto Oogi's saddle and took off. When the bison was no longer visible, she walked back into the

living room and set Izayoi's picture back up next to her ashes, then knelt in front of the table, lit another match, and lit the sticks of incense. As their aroma filled the air and the

tears began to fall down Lin's face, she said the words she said every year on this day.

"Happy Birthday Izzy. Tell Sokka that Mama loves him."


	4. I'll Keep You Safe

The next morning, Korra was inside the island's main temple, keeling between Ketu and Tashi and holding their clasped hands in her lap as Tenzin tattooed the symbol of the

couple's love onto each of their chests and recited Air Nomad blessings for the couple. The island's residents surrounded the four of them with Asami, Bolin, and Mako watching

in the back. For this part of the ceremony, Korra was supposed to be meditating along with Ketu and Tashi and asking the spirits for good fortune for the couple. But try as she

might, there were too many thoughts going through her head to do the task, so she just kept her eyes closed and her head bowed and hoped that she wouldn't fall asleep. She

was just starting to slip into unconscious when she felt a hand on her shoulder and Tenzin whisper,

"I'm finished."

Korra opened her eyes and turned to the couple laying side by side.

"Ketu and Tashi, please rise," she said.

She watched as the two men sat up and looked at her.

"The ceremony is now complete and you are now bonded for life," she said. "Go now and greet your brothers and sisters for the first time as husbands!"

Ketu and Tashi stood up and walked hand in hand to the crowd of air acolytes. Korra smiled as she watched everyone gather around the couple and congratulate them, then

stood up and made her way out of the temple, hoping no one noticed her. Her hopes were dashed when she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around to find the face of the

firebender she had grown to hate.

"Hey, where are you going?" he asked.

"I've been up all night, Mako," she said. "I'm going to bed."

Mako nodded, his hand not leaving his shoulder.

"I'll walk you back to your room," he said before saying in a low voice that only she could hear,

"I figure we could have a little fun."

Fear instantly filled Korra. Though she was tired enough that she would probably fall asleep before anything happened like she usually did, she hadn't had the time to take her

contraceptive herbs that day.

"Please not now, Mako." she said.

The grip on her shoulder tightening.

"Don't tell me no again, Korra." he said in the same low voice he had used earlier.

Korra could feel the familiar sick feeling that she had been having for the past week come back to her as Mako steered her toward the women's dormitory. Just before they were

out of earshot of the temple, they heard a voice call out,

"Korra!"

They turned around and saw Jinora running towards them.

"Where are you going?" she asked. "Don't you want some breakfast?"

"Korra's tired after being awake all night," Mako said. "I'm taking her back to her room to get some rest."

Jinora looked at Mako.

"You can't do that, you're a boy," she said. "Boys aren't allowed in the girl's dormitory. Well, except for Daddy."

"I'm just going to make sure she gets to bed okay." Mako said, lying through his teeth.

Jinora shook her head.

"Sorry, but I can't let you do that," she said. "I'll take Korra back to the dorms and make sure she gets to bed."

Before Mako could stop her, Jinora walked over, took Korra's hand, and led her to the women's dormitory, leaving Mako seething in anger behind them.

When they reached the dormitory, Korra thought that Jinora would just leave once they got to her room. Instead, the young airbender followed Korra into her room and closed

the door behind her.

"You don't have to stay," Korra said as she started changing into nightclothes and pulling the ornaments out of her hair. "I'm just going to get some sleep before the party."

Jinora nodded.

"I know," she said. "I just need to talk to you."

"About what?" Korra asked.

"I'm really worried about you," Jinora said. "You haven't been acting like your usual self and I think I know why."

Korra instantly became scared and she started trying to think of how Jinora could have found out. Had she seen Korra run to the bathroom to take her herbs? Had she woken up

during the night and seen Mako sneaking through Korra's bedroom window?

"You still have feelings for Mako and it's hard to see him and Asami together all the time," Jinora said.

Relief filled Korra as Jinora continued.

"I know it's been hard to see the guy you like with another girl," she said. "But as much of a nice guy Mako is, if he can't see how much of an awesome person you are, then he doesn't deserve you."

Korra gave her a small smile.

"Thanks Jinora." she said.

Jinora smiled back.

"Now Bolin, I think he's the guy for you. He's so nice and funny," Jinora said. "And he did bring you a cupcake AND a rose, so he clearly likes you."

Korra kept the smile on her face, though a feeling of sadness had come over her. She hadn't told the girls about the night she hung out with Bolin in the city or the forced kiss

with Mako the next night that almost destroyed their friendship.

"I'll keep that in mind." she said.

Jinora nodded.

"Well, I'll let get some sleep," She said.

She walked over to Korra and gave her a hug.

"See you later." she said.

"See you later." Korra said back.

She watched Jinora leave the room and close the door behind her, then laid down and fell asleep.

A few hours later, Korra was awoken by a knock at her door.

"Korra, it's time to wake up and get ready for the party," Pema's voice called through the door. "Get cleaned up and I'll be back to do your hair."

Korra let out a groan as she crawled out of bed and stumbled over to her wardrobe, opened it, and pulled out her robe. Then she walked over to where she kept everything

hidden and pulled out the cup, spoon, and contraceptive herbs and put them in the pocket of her robe before leaving for the showers. On her way back, she stopped by the

bathroom and quickly made and drank her tea, then returned to her room and put the herbs, cup, and spoon back in their hiding place. She was just finishing putting on her

under wrappings when she heard a knock at the door.

"Korra, are you ready for me?" Pema called.

She quickly pulled her robe back on.

"Come on in, Pema." she called back.

The door opened and Pema walked in wearing the dress she had worn to Tarrlok's gala and holding a hairbrush, a small piece of string, and a few hairpins.

"Get your cap and ornaments and let's do your hair." she said.

Korra did as she was told and they sat down on the bed. It was quiet while Pema brushed Korra's hair until it was soft and free of tangles. Then, as Pema gathered the top half

of her hair up and used the string to secure it to the top of Korra's head, she spoke up.

"Korra, are you feeling alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine, why would..." Korra began.

Then she stopped.

"Jinora told you, didn't she?" she said.

"She just said you were going through a hard time and that's why you haven't acting like yourself," Pema said. "Are you having those nightmares about Amon again?"

"No, it's not that." Korra said softly.

"Is it about Mako?" Pema asked.

Korra stayed quiet, her silence seemingly answering Pema's question.

"I know it's hard to see him with Asami and knowing that he doesn't return..."

"Why do you all keep thinking this is all about him!? I'm not interested in Mako!" Korra cried before she could stop herself.

She immediately covered her mouth, not believing what she had done. She turned around and looked at Pema.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." She began.

"It's alright sweetheart," Pema said, stopping her. "Besides, now that I've seen the kind of person he is, I think Bolin is better match for you anyway."

"Jinora said the same thing," Korra said as she turned back around and Pema gathered all the hair held by the string, placed in the small cap, and pinned it into Korra's hair. "But I only like him as a friend."

Pema was confused. If Korra didn't want to be with either Mako or Bolin, then who...

That's when the realization of what Korra was saying hit her.

"Korra, do you have feelings for Asami?" She asked. "I mean, more than just friendship?"

Korra turned around and looked Pema in the eye.

"Please don't say anything, especially to Asami. I've messed up her life enough and the last thing she needs is a freak like me telling her about my unnatural feelings for her," she said in a soft, sad voice.

Korra, you are not a freak and the feelings you are having are completely natural, even if they are for girls," Pema said. "I won't tell Asami or anyone else, but I think you

should. It's not wise to hold these kind of things inside."

Korra let out a sigh.

"I'll think about it." she said.

Pema nodded as she placed Korra's ornaments into her hair. It wasn't what she had wanted Korra to say, but it would do for now.

"There, now let's get your dress on." she said.

They got off the bed and walked over to the wardrobe. A few moments later, Korra was stepping into the traditional Water tribe dress that she had warn to Tarrlok's gala. Once it was adjusted, Pema zipped up the back, turned her around, and smiled.

"You look beautiful." she said.

Korra smiled back at her.

"Thanks." she said.

"I need to go get the kids get ready," Pema said. "Do you mind coming to help me after you finish getting ready?"

Korra nodded and Pema walked over to the door. But before she opened it to leave, she turned back to the Avatar.

"Korra?" she said.

"Yeah," Korra said.

"Please consider what I said." she said.

"I will," Korra said. "I promise."

Pema nodded, then left for the main house and for the first time in a week, Korra felt the world had been lifted off her chest. If Pema had reacted that well to her liking girls, she

knew Tenzin and everyone else would too.

"That does it, I'm telling everyone in morning," she said to herself.

She put on her armbands and her nice boots before leaving her room with a smile on her face and walking towards the main house to help Pema get the kids ready.

For the rest of the night, the residents of Air Temple Island celebrated the union of Ketu and Tashi with food, dancing, and games. Korra was having such a good time that, for a

while at least, she forgot about all of her problems. When they party finally can to an end, and after Tenzin told her that morning meditation was cancelled, but training would go

on as scheduled, Korra went back to the women's dormitory still in a great mood. She took her hair down, changed into her pajamas and got the sleeping herbs, cup, and spoon

out of their hiding place and went to the bathroom to make her nightly cup of tea. But unlike the previous nights, the reason she was taking it tonight was because she knew it

was going to be impossible for her to get to sleep on her own after sleeping for such a long time earlier that day. After drinking her tea, she walked back to her room and put

them back in their hiding place and sat down on the bed, waiting for the familiar tapping on the window. A few moments later, it came. She walked over to the window, opened

it, and watched Mako climb inside.

"I thought that stupid party would never end," he said.

He grabbed her by the arms and was about to pull her into a forced kiss when Korra pushed him away.

"What's your problem?" he asked.

"You're never going to do that to me again," she said in a deathly tone. "In fact, you're never going to touch me again!"

"You're joking right? You know what will happen if you refuse me." he said.

Korra shook her head.

"I don't care, Pema already knows and she accepts me and I know everyone else will too when I tell them at breakfast tomorrow," she said. "Now for the last time, Mako, get out!"

She turned around to get in bed, only to have Mako grab her arm.

"This isn't over, Korra, not by a long shot." he said. "Either you give me what I want or..."

He paused when something hanging on the wall caught his eye. He turned back to Korra, an evil grin now spreading on his face.

"Or I'll get it from somewhere else." he finished.

Korra looked over at what he was looking at and when she saw what it was, her heart sank. Hanging on the wall were two pictures that had been there since Korra's second day

on the island. She turned back to Mako.

"No," she said. "Please."

"Then you'll do what I say," Mako said. "Now get your clothes off and get in the bed."

With shaking hands, Korra stripped herself of her pajamas and under wrappings and laid down. Mako got on top of her and kissed her hard on the lips and as he moved his

kisses down her body, Korra turned back to the two pictures on the wall.

"Don't worry," she thought to herself as the herbs took effect and she was pulled into sleep. "I'll keep you safe."


	5. Advice, Comfort, and a Fire

**Thanks again for all the reviews everyone! And to answer the question that everyone has been asking: sorry, but you're not going to find out who Mako is threatening for a while.**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

Korra walked into the communal showers on Air Temple Island, hot and sweaty from practicing her bending in the hot sun all day and holding a clean change of clothes, a

washcloth, and a towel. She turned on the water to just below scalding and began stripping off her clothes, trying not to look down at her body. Ever since she tried to stop

Mako a week ago, he had become rougher with her. Now it was becoming common for Korra to wake up with bruises on her thighs, hips, wrists, or all three. He also always left

a note that said the same thing every time:

Tell anyone and you know what will happen.

Korra finished undressing and quickly stepped into the shower before somebody could walk in and see her. Taking her washcloth, she lathered it with soap and began scrubbing

her body hard, trying to imagine that, as impossible as it was, that she was scrubbing all that Mako had been doing to her over the past two weeks off her. Finally stopping when

it felt like her skin was about to come off, she washed her hair, turned off the water, dried herself off, and bended the water out of her hair. Then she wrapped the towel around

herself, stepped out of the shower, dressed and put her hair up quickly, gathering up her wet towel, washcloth, and dirty clothes and left for the women's dormitories.

Korra dropped her clothes off at her room and was about to leave the dormitory when the sound of someone crying a few rooms down from hers stopped her. She walked down

the hall, following the sound, until she was in front of Asami's room. She knocked on the door.

"Asami?" She said.

There was no answer. Korra softly opened the door and found Asami lying on the bed with her back to the door, her shoulder shaking as she cried. She quietly walked over to

the bed, sat on the edge of it, and placed a hand on Asami's shoulder, making the former heiress jump. Korra quickly removed her hand.

"I'm sorry! I heard crying and," She began.

Asami sat up and started wiping her tears away.

"It's alright." She said.

"Are you okay?" Korra asked.

Asami nodded.

"I'm fine," She said. "Mako and I had a fight."

Korra looked at her sadly.

"I'm sorry," She said. "Do you mind if I ask...what was it about?"

Asami shrugged.

"I was the one who really started it," She said. "It's just...he's changed since we came to live here."

"How so?" Korra asked.

"He's been so distant with me and he's not as affectionate as he used to be," Asami said. " When I confronted him about this, he got angry and said that I was the one who had changed and that...that,"

"What?" Korra said.

Tears started to reform in Asami's eyes.

"That I changed so much that he wasn't sure he wanted to be with me anymore," She said.

"But Mako loves you. You guys just haven't had some time to yourselves since you arrived here," Korra said. "You need a date night."

"A date night?" Asami asked.

Korra nodded.

"How about tonight you two take your dinner and go have a picnic on the beach," She said. "Then later tonight, we'll do patrol for an hour, then you two can have the last two hours to yourselves while Bolin and I go hang out in the city."

Asami thought about it for a moment.

"It has been a while since we've had the night to ourselves," She said. "Do you really think it will help us?"

"I know it will." Korra said.

Asami smiled a little.

"Okay, that's just what we'll do." She said, pulling her into a hug. "Thanks Korra, you're the best."

Korra hugged her back and tried to ignore the feeling of guilt that was forming in her gut.

Later that night, Bolin and Korra were walking around Republic City Park with Bolin while Asami and Mako had taken the car out for some time to themselves, promising to came

back early enough for them to make it back to the docks in time.

"So, we've walked all around the park, what do you want to do now?" He asked.

Korra tried to stop the yawn that she could feel coming, but it came anyway. She covered her mouth and looked at Bolin.

"Sorry," She said. "Do you mind if we find somewhere to sit down? I'm kind of tired."

"Okay." He said.

He looked around for a moment.

"How about that tree?" He said.

Korra look at where he was pointing and instantly recognized it as the tree that she and Mako slept under the night that Bolin went missing.

"Ah..sure, that looks good." She said.

They walked over to the tree and as they sat down, Bolin notice the grimace on Korra's face.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

Korra quickly nodded.

"Yeah, just sore from all the bending practice I did today." She said.

Bolin nodded, though a part of him didn't believe her. It was quiet for a few minutes as Bolin looked upon the bright lights of the city and Korra gazed upward into the night sky.

Finally, Bolin let out a sigh and turned back to Korra.

"Korra, are you doing okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" She asked.

"I've seen how you've been acting since me, Mako, and Asami moved to the island. You barely eat anymore and your clothes are starting to hang off you and then you practice your bending until you're ready to collapse. Now what's going on in that head of yours? Come on, you can tell your old buddy Bo." He said.

Korra let out a sigh. Bolin could never find out what Mako was doing to her. As much as she now hated Mako, she couldn't take away the only family Bolin had left.

"I'm fine Bolin, really I am." She said. "I just haven't been sleeping well because of everything with Amon."

He looked at her, his face now serious.

"So you're having them too?" He said.

Korra was confused.

"Having what?" She asked.

"The nightmares," He said. "I've been having them since that Equalist rally and they're always the same thing. You and Mako don't get there in time to save me and Amon takes away my bending."

"But we did get you out and he didn't take your bending." Korra said.

"That's what I keep telling myself every time I wake up, but the nightmares still come," Bolin said. "What are yours about?"

Korra quickly came up with something that she hoped would be believable.

"I'm on Avatar Aang Memorial Island and instead of knocking me out, Amon takes my bending and then brings everyone I care about in front of me and makes me watch as he takes away their bending one by one." She said.

Bolin looked at her.

"Wow, no wonder you're having trouble sleeping." He said.

It was quiet again for a few moments, then Bolin spoke up.

"Hey, I got an idea," He said. "How about tonight we sleep together in the same room? That way if one of us has a nightmare, the other person can wake them up and stop it."

Korra became scared, knowing that there was no way that could happen. Besides the fact that Bolin would find out what was really happening to her, Tenzin would never allow it.

"Bolin, you know we can't do that," She said. "If we're caught..."

"I don't mean sneaking into each other's rooms," He said. "We can stay somewhere like the reading room and sleep far enough apart where the most we can do is hold hands."

Korra didn't want to get his hopes up, but she also knew if she refused, Bolin would know something was wrong.

"Okay," She said. "I'll come to the reading room after everyone goes to bed and stay with you."

"Great!" Bolin said.

Just then, they saw Mako running over to them.

"There you are! I've been looking all over the park for you two," He said. "Me and Asami lost track of time and we have ten minutes to get to the docks! Come on, let's go!"

Korra and Bolin got up and ran behind him to where Asami was parked. She drove them back to the docks, quickly parked the car, and they all ran across the street to the ferry,

boarding with only seconds to spare. During the ride back to the island, Korra noticed the smiles on Asami and Mako's faces, the way the kept holding each other, and the kisses

they kept exchanging and could only hope that meant that Mako wouldn't leave any new bruises on her tonight.

As the sleeping herbs sent Korra into sleep with Mako once again on top of her, she expect to wake up like she had every morning for the past two weeks, alone and naked with

Mako's semen on her legs. Instead, she was awoken by a hard slap to the face. Her eyes shot open and she looked up at Mako, who was standing in his underwear and had his

hand wrapped around one of her sore wrists, his face inches away from hers.

"What was that for?!" She asked.

"Asami said you were the one who suggested we go on a date tonight," He said.

"Yeah, so?" Korra said.

"Who do you think you are butting into my relationship MY girlfriend?" He said.

"I was just giving advice and comfort to my upset friend because her jerk of a boyfriend was threatening to breakup with her," Korra said. "And from the way you two were acting the ferry, you should be thanking me that you still have a girlfriend."

Mako just stared at her for a moment, then roughly pushed her wrist away and moved away from her.

"Stay away from Asami." He said.

Korra didn't want to fight with him, so she just nodded, got up from the bed, and reached for her pajama top.

"Where are you going?" Mako asked.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I'm going to the reading room to spend the night with Bolin." She said.

Mako grabbed her again, this time by the arm.

"What do you want with my brother?" He said in a possessive tone.

"He's been having nightmares because of what happened to him at the Equalist rally, something that you would know if you paid attention to someone other than yourself," She said. "I told him I would stay with him tonight so that if he had another one, I could wake him up." She said.

"No!" Mako said angrily. "You're mine, do you hear me?! Mine!"

He threw her into wall next to the bed, causing Korra to hit her head. She was so dazed that she didn't notice Mako grab both of her wrists, tie them to the headboard with his

scarf, and flip her over. She started to struggle as he ripped off her top and he leaned close to her ear.

"You've made me angry, Korra, now you have to be punished," He said. "Try to free yourself by firebending and you know where my next stop will be."

The second Korra heard that, she stopped struggling and prepared herself for the worst. It didn't matter how badly he hurt her, as long as he didn't hurt anybody else.

In the main residence, Jinora was reading in her room by candlelight while keeping an ear out for any noise near her room. She was suppose to be asleep an hour ago, but

because she was so close to the end of her book and it was getting really good, she waited till everyone was asleep, then lit a small candle she kept in the room for nights like

this. When she finally finished her book, she got out of bed, put the book back on the bookshelf, then returned to her bed and blew out the candle. She turned around to close

her window, but stopped when she saw a light coming from one of the windows of the women's dormitory. She knew that the light was coming from was Korra's room and

thought that she had forgotten to turn her lamp off before falling asleep again. But then she saw that the light had a reddish orange color and was flickering and instantly knew

what it was. Jumping out of bed, she ran across the hall to Ikki's room, ran over to her bed, and started shaking her.

"Ikki, Ikki wake up!" She said.

Ikki groaned and tried to push her sister away.

"Go away, Jinora," She said sleepily.

"Come on Ikki, wake up!" Jinora said. "Korra's room is on fire!"

Ikki opened her eyes, now fully awake.

"What did you say?" She asked.

"Korra's room is on fire!" Jinora repeated. "I'm gonna go get Korra and everyone else out of the dormitories, you go get Daddy!"

Ikki nodded and ran out of her room and down the hall to her parents' room while Jinora ran outside, formed an air scooter, and rode it as fast as she could to the women's

dormitory. When she arrived, she ran down the hall, using her airbending to open all the doors and yelling for everyone to wake up and go outside. When she got to Korra's

room, she felt the door to make sure it wasn't hot, pulled it open, and came face to face with a frightening sight. Korra was lying naked on her stomach on the bed with her

hands tied to the headboard with her pajama top stuffed in her mouth. Standing at foot of the bed, in only his underwear and holding a fire whip, was Mako. Jinora watched as

he slammed the whip onto Korra's back before she snapped back into reality and shot the biggest blast of air she could at him, sending him head first into the wall. She watched

him slide to the ground, then ran over to Korra and began calling her name as she pulled the pajama top out of her mouth and tried to get her hands free. She almost had the

scarf loose when she was grabbed by the collar of her shirt, pulled up, and slammed her into the wall above the bed.

"You little brat!" yelled an enraged Mako as he pulled back his fist that was now ablaze.

Jinora screamed and tried to break free of his grasp. Mako's fist was inches away from her face when he was suddenly pulled away from her, causing him to let her go and

letting her fall to the bed. She looked up and saw her father hold Mako up by his hair and beat him mercilessly. Remembering what she had been doing moments before, Jinora

reached over to the headboard and finished uniting Korra's hands, causing Korra's head and arms to fall to the bed with a thump, then placed her hands on Korra's burning,

blood covered back and tried to shake her awake.

"Korra, Korra, wake up!" She cried desperately. "Please wake up, Korra! Please!"

"Korra?" She heard.

Jinora looked up at Tenzin with a look of shock on his face.

"Daddy," She said fearfully with tears forming in her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. "Korra won't wake up."


	6. Another Secret Exposed

Even though his mother was the best healer in the world, Tenzin knew very little about the subject itself and what he had learn, he had gotten from the few times he watched

her treat his siblings, mostly Bumi, when they got hurt as children. But one of the most important things he learned was that you had to stop a bleeding wound as soon as

possible. Quickly taking off his robe, he placed it on a naked Korra's torn up back to try and stop the bleeding. He heard footsteps running toward the room and turned to see

one female and two male White Lotus sentries standing in the doorway.

"Master Tenzin, we noticed a commotion..." One of them began.

Tenzin stopped him, knowing that he had to get Korra help, and fast. He pointed to the female sentry.

"You come over here and stay with Korra while I go get the island's healer," He said before pointing over to where a beaten up and half conscious Mako was leaning against the wall. "You two get him out of here and take him to your quarters until the police get here."

They all nodded and the female sentry walked over to the bed while the two males pulled Mako to his feet and dragged him out of the room. Tenzin turned back to Jinora, who

was still kneeling silently next to Korra on the bed, looking down at her bloody hands as tears poured down her face.

"Jinora, let's get you back to the house." He said.

Jinora looked up at him and shook her head. Tenzin knew that she didn't want to leave Korra.

"Korra will be fine, sweetheart. Ying Na will be here in just a moment," He said. "Come on, we have to get you cleaned up."

Jinora shook her head again and Tenzin knew she wasn't going to leave until she knew that Korra was going to be okay.

"Alright, you can stay for now," He said. "But if Ying Na tells you to leave, you have to come back to the house, understand?"

Jinora nodded and Tenzin walked back outside, where Asami, Ying Na, and the rest of the female air acolytes were standing after they had been evacuated.

"Asami, Ying Na, I need to speak to the two of you," He said. "The rest of you can return to bed. Everything will be explained in the morning."

Everyone reluctantly went back to their rooms except for the healer and the former heiress, who walked up to Tenzin.

"Master Tenzin, what's going on?" Ying Na asked.

"Where's Korra?" Asami asked. "She didn't come out with the rest of us."

Tenzin let out a sad sigh before saying in a low voice so that only they could hear him,

"Someone broke into Korra's room and attacked her," He said. "I believe he forced himself on her as well."

Ying Na's eyes grew wide and Asami covered her mouth in shock.

"Who did it?!" Asami asked.

Tenzin looked at her sadly. After everything that she had been through, the last thing she needed was to find out that her boyfriend raped and nearly killed her friend.

"That's not important right now. The person responsible is being held by the White Lotus until the police arrive," He said.

He turned to Ying Na.

"Jinora is refusing to leave her until she is assured that Korra will be all right, but I told her to leave when you told her too," He said. "Treat Korra's back, but tell Jinora to leave before you treat her other injuries."

Ying Na nodded and turned to Asami.

"Can you come with me? I'll need your help keeping the Avatar calm while I examine her."

Asami nodded and the two women entered the dormitory while Tenzin walked back to the main residence. He was almost to his and Pema's bedroom when he saw his wife

walking down the hall.

"There you are, I finally convinced Ikki..." She began.

She stopped when she saw that their oldest child wasn't with him.

"Where's Jinora?" She asked.

"She's safe," He said. "But...something's happened."

The shrill of the telephone waking her up in the middle of the night was something that Lin was use to after all these years. But after not hearing it for two weeks, it's sound now

caused her to shoot up in bed and her eyes to open wide. After taking a couple of seconds to calm down, she reach over to the phone on the bedside table.

"Bei Fong," She said, her voice still laced with sleep.

"Lin, it's me," She heard an all too familiar voice say.

"Tenzin? Do you have any idea what time it is?!" She said.

"You have to come to the island!" He said. "Korra's been attacked!"

At that moment, Lin's sleepiness disappeared.

"Do she know who the attacker was?" She asked as she began to strip herself of her nightclothes.

"Yes, I ordered the White Lotus take him to their quarters until you got here," He said. "Lin, it was Mako."

Anger filled Lin. She had gotten a bad vibe from that boy the moment she saw him and had never liked him because of it. As much as she didn't want to know the answer her

next question, she knew it had to be asked.

"Tenzin, did he rape her?" She said.

It was quiet for a moment, then he said.

"She was naked and tied to the bed when I got there and Mako was only wearing was his underwear," He said. "Please Lin, if there is anybody on the police force that you can still trust, bring them with you. I want him to pay for what he did to Korra and Jinora."

"What did he do to Jinora?" Lin asked, hoping that it wasn't the same thing he did to Korra.

"When I got to Korra's room, Mako had her pinned against the wall and was about to punch her in the face with a fire fist," He said. "Lin, if I hadn't gotten there in time..."

"Tenzin, stop it. Jinora is fine, we have to focus on Korra now," She said. "Has she cleaned herself up yet?"

"No, she passed out because of the beating she was given. The healer is mending her wounds right now." Tenzin said.

"Alright, go back in there after you hang up and tell her not to clean her up. We're going to need as much evidence as we can get from her," Lin said. "Also, Jinora is going to have to be questioned."

"Please not tonight, Lin. She's been through so much..." Tenzin began.

"And she's the only person who saw what Mako did. If you want him to pay for what he did, then Jinora has to be questioned and the sooner, the better," She said. "I'll be there soon."

"Okay," He said. "Thank you."

Lin hung up the phone and threw on the undershirt and pants she wore under her uniform on before walking over to her wardrobe and bending her uniform on. Then she walked

back over to the phone and dialed the number of the one person she knew she could trust and could only hope was home since it was too much of a risk to call them at the

station. After a couple of rings, she heard a groggy voice say,

"Hello?"

"It's me," She said. "Looks like we're going to have to reveal our plan after all."

Korra remained unconscious while Ying Na examined her back and Asami ran her fingers through her hair. When Ying Na was finished, she recovered Korra's back with Tenzin's

robe and turned to Asami.

"I need to go get some things I'll need to treat and bandage Korra's wounds once we get her cleaned up," She said. "Stay here in case she wakes up,"

Asami gave her a nod and Ying Na turned to Jinora.

"Korra will be fine now, all there is left to do is clean and bandage her. You should go get yourself clean up and go back to bed," She said. "You can come back and see Korra in the morning."

Jinora nodded and climbed off the bed, careful not to touch anything with her blood covered hands. Before leaving the room, she walked over to where Asami was sitting next to

Korra's head, leaned down, and pressed a kiss to her temple.

"I'm sorry." She said.

Asami looked at the young girl sadly as Ying Na led her out of the room and closed the door behind them, then turned back to Korra and resumed running her fingers through

her hair, simply because she didn't know what else to do. As she looked at the bruises on Korra's thighs, hips, and wrists, she was still in shock that this had happened and that

it had happened to one of the strongest people she knew. A knocking on the door pulled Asami out of her thoughts and she turned to it.

"Who is it?" She asked.

"It's Tenzin, Lin is on her way and she's bringing someone from the force that she said we could trust," He said through the door. "Is Jinora still in there?"

"No, the healer made her leave after she finished with Korra's back." Asami said.

"Alright, I'm going to the docks to wait for the ferry," He said. "Make sure to tell Ying Na not to clean up Korra. Lin said that they need to collect as much evidence as they can from her."

"I will." Asami said.

She heard Tenzin walk away and wondered why he wasn't telling her who had done this when he obviously knew. A few moments later, the door slid open and Ying Na walked in

carrying everything she would need to clean Korra and her wounds.

"Has she woken up?" She asked.

Asami shook her head.

"Good, this next step will likely be painful so it's best that she stay asleep," Ying Na said.

"Actually, Tenzin just came by and wants you to hold off cleaning Korra up until the police get here since they'll need to collect evidence from her." Asami said.

"Alright, I need to check between her legs anyway," She said. "Help me turn her onto her back."

Asami nodded and stood up. She took Korra by shoulders as Ying Na took her by her ankles and they slowly turned her onto her back, causing Korra to stir and whimper.

"Shh, it's okay Korra." Asami said softly as she sat back down next to her and resumed running her fingers through Korra's hair while her other hand took Korra's closest hand into hers and ran her thumb over her knuckles.

Once Korra was back to sleeping calming, Ying Na gently took hold of her knees and separated them. At that moment, Korra's eyes flew open and she let out a scream as fought

to get away from Ying Na's grasp.

After what felt like an hours long wait, the ferry arrived at the Air Temple Island docks. Tenzin watched as the air acolytes lowered the ramp and Lin walked down with the last

person he wanted her to bring.

"Why on earth did you bring him here!?" He asked. "You know the first he's going to do when he leaves here is..."

Lin stopped him.

"You told me to bring someone we could trust and he's the only one I would trust with my life and can see to it that that boy get's what he deserves," She said. "Believe me, he's not going to report this to Tarrlok."

Tenzin looked at the man standing next to Lin.

"And why should we believe a word he says?" He asked.

"Because Chief Saikhan and I are working together to bring Tarrlok down." Lin said.


	7. Revelations and Revenge

Lin looked at Tenzin's shocked expression and stopped him before he could ask the questions she knew were coming.

"Look, everything will be explained later." She said. "Right now, we need to interview Jinora and Korra and collect evidence."

Tenzin's expression returned to normal.

"Of course," he said. "Come with me."

He led Lin and Chief Saikhan to the women's dormitory and then to Korra's room. When they got there, he saw Ying Na standing outside the room.

"Are you done with Korra?" he asked.

Ying Na shook her head sadly.

"I'm afraid not. After I finished examining her back, I went to look over her other injuries and she woke up and started screaming and fighting me." She said. "I left the room so Ms. Sato could calm her down."

"Very well." Saikhan said. "We'll come back after we question Jinora."

Despite Saikhan's assurances that Jinora would be fine, Tenzin and Pema refused to leave their eldest child alone so that she could be questioned. Lin tried to stay out of the

conversation, but after fifteen minutes, she spoke up.

"If I stay here with Jinora, will you two leave and let Chief Saikhan do his job?" she asked.

Tenzin and Pema looked at each other, then at Jinora.

"Would that be okay, Sweetheart?" Pema asked. "We'll be right outside the door and come back in the second Chief Saikhan is finished."

Jinora slowly nodded, and Tenzin and Pema reluctantly left the room.

It took another thirty minutes for Jinora to tell Saikhan everything that happened from the time she saw the fire through Korra's window to Mako nearly burning her with his fire

fist. By the time Lin opened the door and let the anxious parents back in, Jinora was sobbing and begging her parents to let her sleep with them that night. Pema took her to the

master bedroom while Tenzin went with Lin and Saikhan back to the women's dormitory to see if Korra was ready to be questioned. They found Ying Na still standing outside the

room.

"Has Korra still not calmed down?" Tenzin asked.

"No, Master Tenzin, she calmed down and I was able to finish her examination," Ying Na said. "You were right, her attacker did force himself on her."

Tenzin nodded, hoping that he had been wrong about that.

"I'll have to photograph all of her injuries," Saikhan said, motioning to the bag that was hanging on his shoulder. "Is she ready for me to question her?"

Ying Na sighed.

"Honestly, I don't know," she said. "Is there any way that Ms. Bei Fong could question her? I don't think she'll react well to a man questioning her and taking her picture."

Lin shook her head.

"I'm not qualified to question her since I've resigned as chief of police," she said. "But I can go in first and explain to her everything that's going to happen."

Saikhan nodded.

"Maybe that would be best," he said. "The longer she remains calm, the sooner we'll be done. Also, tell her that that if she doesn't want her identity revealed, I'll enter her identity as a 'Ming Air Acolyte' so that no one will know."

Lin nodded and was about to open the door to Korra's room when Tenzin stopped her.

"Lin, don't refer to Korra's attacker by his name," he said in a low voice so that no one on the other side of the door could hear him. "Asami doesn't know yet."

Lin gave him a nod and, after giving the door a couple of knocks, walked into Korra's room. When she closed the door, Tenzin turned to Saikhan.

"Are you sure you can keep Korra's identity a secret?" he asked.

"Unless this goes to trial," Saikhan said. "But we'll cross that bridge we get to it."

"There's something else you should know, Master Tenzin," Ying Na said. "I don't think this is the first time this has happened."

Tenzin looked at her.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"The injuries she has suggest that she's been having violent sex for some time," Ying Na said. "And the bruises she has on her wrists, hips, and thighs are in various stages of healing."

"How old are the oldest bruises?" Saikhan asked.

"A week, maybe a little older," she said.

It was then that Tenzin realized that that was around the time that Korra had begun acting strangely. He had just assumed that she had been having nightmares about Amon

again and decided to wait until she was ready to talk about to him about it. He didn't understand why she hadn't told him or anyone else about what Mako was doing to her.

Asami had covered Korra with a blanket and was sitting back down and taking Korra's hand back into hers when she heard two knocks on the door. She turned to see Lin walk

inside, closing the door behind her.

"Chi..." Asami began before stopping herself, remembering that Lin wasn't the chief of police anymore. "Ms. Bei Fong," she corrected herself.

"Good evening, Ms. Sato," Lin said, but her eyes were focused on the Avatar.

Lin could not believe that this was the same girl who had been arrested for destroying the city her first day in town. Korra had a look in her eyes that Lin had seen on too many

other women, most of them wrapped in blankets at the precinct. Besides the bruises, Korra was also noticeably thinner than before.

"Chief Saikhan is outside, waiting to question the Avatar and take pictures of her injuries," Lin said.

The look of devastation that had shone in Korra's eyes disappeared, replaced by a look of fear. Korra shook her head frantically.

"No!" she said. "He'll go straight to Tarrlok, and..."

"Korra, he won't go to Tarrlok, I promise," Lin said. "He's not going to tell Tarrlok about a simple rape victim who wants to remain anonymous."

Korra's shoulders relaxed.

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

"Saikhan is going to enter your identity as a Ming Air Acolyte. That way, Tarrlok won't be suspicious when he brings your attacker in."

"And you're sure we can trust him?" Korra asked.

"I give you my word," Lin said. "And I know Saikhan will too."

Korra was quiet for a moment, then gave Lin a nod, who turned and opened the door.

"She's ready," Lin told Saikhan.

Saikhan walked into the room.

"Good evening, Avatar." he said.

"I want your word that Tarrlok won't know about this," Korra immediately told him.

"You have it. Trust me, Tarrlok won't care about a rape that has no Equalists ties," he assured her. "And if he does ask who you are, I'll just make something up."

Korra sighed.

"Okay," she said. "Let's get this over with."

Over the next half hour, Saikhan photographed and made note of all of Korra's injuries. She remained calm the whole time, even when Lin moved the blanket so that he could

get pictures of her back, hips, thighs and in between her legs. What only Asami noticed were the tears of humiliation streaming down Korra's face. She gently wiped the tears

away, whispering that Korra was safe and that Saikhan was almost done.

Finally, Saikhan stepped away from Korra.

"Alright, I've got all the pictures I need," he said as he put the camera away. "Ms. Sato, if you don't mind, I would like to speak to the Avatar alone."

Asami reached over and, using the hand that wasn't currently being clutched, gently touched Korra's face.

"Are you okay with me leaving?" She asked.

Korra nodded as she tried to put on a brave face.

"Yes." she said.

Asami exchanged a skeptical look with Lin.

"I'll stay with her," Lin told Asami.

Asami nodded and turned her attention back to Korra.

"I'll be right back," she said. "I promise."

Korra nodded and reluctantly let go of Asami's hand. Her eyes followed Asami out of the room. Once the door was pulled tight, Asami turned to Tenzin and Ying Na.

"Chief Saikhan told me to leave so he could question her," she said.

Tenzin nodded.

"Will you please wait here for Lin and Chief Saikhan to come out?" he asked Ying Na. "I need to talk with Asami."

"Of course, Master Tenzin," Ying Na said.

Tenzin turned to Asami.

"Would you come with me please?" he asked.

Asami followed him outside, wondering what he wanted with her. He led her to the outside entrance of the temple before stopping and turning back to her.

"Tenzin, what is it?" she asked.

Tenzin knew that it was best that she heard the bad news from him, rather than from Saikhan through the door to Korra's room. That didn't make it any easier for him to tell

her, however.

"There's something you need to know," Tenzin said. "Something about Korra's attacker."

"Why haven't you told me who he is?" Asami asked. "I know it can't be one of the air acolytes or a member of the White Lotus, because you wouldn't be this secretive about it. Who was it? Tell me."

After a brief moment of silence, Tenzin answered.

"Asami," he said. "It was Mako. He attacked Korra."

"No." Asami shook her head. "He would never do that to Korra! She's his best friend!"

Tenzin sighed.

"He was only in his underwear when I got to Korra's room," he explained. "He had Jinora pinned to the wall, and he would have seriously burned her if I hadn't intervened. Korra's hands were tied to headboard and, according to what Jinora told Saikhan, the wounds on her back were cause by a fire whip."

Asami leaned against the building, speechless. She slid down to the ground as she began to cry. Tenzin knelt next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It's going to be okay, Asami," he said.

"No it's not!" she cried. "This is all my fault! If I had just given Mako what he wanted, he wouldn't have done this to Korra!"

"What are you talking about?" Tenzin asked.

Asami let out a sigh. It was so embarrassing telling someone she barely knew about her sex life, but she knew she had to be honest.

"After our first time together, Mako wanted to do it again right away," she explained. "But he was so rough with me the first time that I wanted to wait a while. Then everything with my father happened, and we moved here, and Mako kept trying to get me to sneak off with him for a quickie..."

She realized what she had said and quickly added,

"I swear we didn't do anything! I lost my contraceptive herbs during the move here, and I made it clear to Mako that we weren't going to do anything unless I found them or got more."

"I believe you," Tenzin said. "But Asami, this was in no way your fault. You're in no way responsible for Mako's actions."

Asami didn't say anything; she just buried her face in her arms and continued to cry. Tenzin remained kneeling next to her with his hand on her arm, trying to comfort her the

best he could.

"Is this them?" Saikhan asked, holding up the bag of contraceptive herbs.

"Yes," Korra said.

She had just told him and Lin everything that had happened over the past two weeks, including the reason she'd first let Mako rape her. The whole time she was answering his

questions, Lin had sat next to Korra, holding her hand. She had been surprised when Korra had reached out and grabbed her hand within seconds of her sitting down, but

knowing that the Avatar was close to falling apart, Lin hadn't pulled away. Saikhan held up the other small bag he had pulled out of Korra's hiding place.

"What are these?" he asked.

"Sleeping herbs," Korra said. "Pema gave them to me after I started having nightmares about Amon a few weeks ago."

"Have you used them at all?" Saikhan asked.

Korra nodded.

"Since the first night. At first I used them because I thought that if I fell asleep before Mako could do anything, he would leave me alone. But when he raped me anyway, I kept taking them so I wouldn't remember what he was doing to me."

Saikhan nodded and dropped the cup, spoon, and both bags of herbs into evidence bags. He put them back in the camera bag before picking his notepad and pen back up.

"Avatar, did you tell anyone about what Mako was doing?" he asked.

"No," she said. "I did tell Pema about my true feelings for Asami, and Pema was fine with it! After I talked to her, I decided that I going to tell everyone about who I really was and tell Mako that the deal was off. But that night, after I told Mako that I was through playing his games, he told me that if I didn't do what he said..."

She stopped, not sure if she could finish that sentence.

"What?" Saikhan asked. "What did he tell you?"

"He said he would do what he was doing to me to someone else." Korra said.

"Did he tell you who he would go after?" he asked. "Was it Ms. Sato?"

"No," Korra said, but she couldn't bring herself to say the name out loud. She motioned for Saikhan to come closer and held the hand that wasn't holding Lin's hand up to hide her mouth, effectively preventing Lin from lip-reading.

Saikhan leaned in close, and Korra managed to whisper the name so softly that Lin, who was right next to Korra, couldn't hear it.

"Please don't tell anyone," Korra begged.

Saikhan just nodded and finished writing down what she had told him. Despite his composure, Lin could see his face growing pale and a look of shocked disgust appearing in his

eyes.

"Alright, I have all the information I need." Saikhan tucked his notepad and pen back in his bag and pulled the strap onto his shoulder. "'We'll send the healer and Ms. Sato back in and let you get cleaned up and get some rest."

Lin turned to back to Korra as Saikhan walked out of the room.

"Don't worry," she said. "We'll make sure that boy pays for what he did to you."

Korra just nodded and Lin watched as two tears fell down her already wet cheeks before she slowly let go of Korra's hand, stood up, and joined the others in the hallway, making

sure to close the door tightly.

Saikhan glanced from Asami to Tenzin, waiting for the latter's nod, before proceeding.

"We have enough evidence to arrest Mako with multiple counts of rape and blackmail," Saikhan said.

"How long has this been going on?" Tenzin asked.

"According to Korra, he came to her after the raid on the Sato Mansion," Lin said. "He told her he had feelings for her and wanted to sleep with her, but she turned him down because he was with you, Ms. Sato. She only agreed to it after he threatened to reveal a secret she thought would destroy her relationship with all of you."

"What was her secret?" Asami asked.

"That's something you'll have to ask Korra," Lin said.

Saikhan opened his bag and pulled out one of the pouches.

"Do any of you recognize this bag?" he asked. "It contains contraceptive herbs."

Asami gasped.

"Those are mine!" she said. "Where did you find them?"

"The avatar said that Mako gave them to her," Saikhan said. "Did anyone besides Mako know you had these?"

"No, Mako was the only one," Asami said.

"Since they're considered evidence in an open investigation, we can't give them back to you yet," Saikhan said.

"I don't want them back at all," Asami said. "Just throw them out when you don't need them anymore."

Saikhan put the herbs back in his bag.

"We're finished collecting evidence. It's fine to help the avatar clean herself up now." he said.

Asami and Ying Na went back into Korra's room and Ying Na dumped the contents of the bowl she'd carried in earlier onto Korra's desk.

"Lay those towels on the floor," she told Asami, motioning to the four large towels on the desk. "I'm going to go fill this with water."

She left the room, and Asami unfolded the towels. She laid them on the floor near the foot of the bed, then returned to the chair she'd occupied before. Korra could tell from

Asami's red eyes that someone had already broken the news about Mako.

"Asami, I'm so sorry-"

"Shh," Asami stopped her. "We'll talk about it after we get you cleaned up and you've had some rest. It's okay; I don't blame you."

They fell quiet until Ying Na returned with the water, and the silence continued even as she and Asami set to work cleaning and healing Korra.

Outside the White Lotus quarters, Tenzin glanced at Lin and Saikhan.

"So, what is this about you two going after Tarrlok?" he asked softly.

Saikhan and Lin stopped in their tracks.

"I'll go get the boy so you two can talk," Saikhan said before going inside.

Lin motioned for Tenzin to follow her. When they were a few feet away from the building and she was sure that no one could overhear them, she turned back to him.

"First of all, you are not to breathe a word of this to anybody," she said in a low voice. "Promise me that right now, before I tell you anything."

"I promise," Tenzin said. "Now why are you and Saikhan trying to bring Tarrlok down?"

"Because he murdered Izayoi," she said.

Tenzin let out a sigh.

"Oh Lin, not this again. You have to let this go," he said. "How can you be sure it was Tarrlok? Nobody saw the driver long enough to give an accurate description. The only thing the eyewitnesses could agree on was that he was a man."

"Yes, a man who appeared to be of Watertribe descent, and who was driving a car with a license plate that is only issued to council members. I also know for a fact that Tarrlok was the only Watertribe representative in the city that week because the Southern Watertribe Representative was back in the South Pole."

She glared at him.

"And don't you dare tell me to let this go! Would you let it go if that car had run over Pema and then taken off?" She said. "Would you let it go if you had to watch your wife die? If Jinora died in your arms an hour later?"

Tenzin didn't know how to answer her.

"Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?" Saikhan unlocked the handcuffs the White Lotus had used to detain Mako, who was now dressed in a pair of old, holey pants that had once been white. The pants had belonged to one of the members of the White Lotus, as had Mako's similarly worn-out slippers.

Saikhan would have preferred to drag the rapist through the station wearing nothing but the underwear that had been present at the time of arrest. Fortunately for Mako, it was

policy that all suspects had to be at least partially clothed during booking.

"I'm telling you, you're making a mistake!" Mako protested. "Korra and I just like rough sex!"

"Every night while she's sleeping?" Saikhan asked as he slapped his own pair of handcuffs on Mako. "And since when does post-sex cuddling include tearing up someone's back with a fire whip?"

He grabbed Mako by the arm and dragged him out of the quarters and over to where Lin and Tenzin were standing.

"Master Tenzin, I swear I would never hurt Korra! You have to believe me!" Mako said.

Tenzin stared at Mako much the same way he stared at bison dung.

"Get him off my island," Tenzin said in a deathly angry tone.

Saikhan gave him a nod and dragged Mako toward the docks.

"I'm going back to the city, too," Lin said. "Keep me updated on Korra's condition."

Tenzin nodded. Lin was about to walk away when he spoke up.

"Lin?"

She turned back around.

"Please don't choose revenge," he said.

Lin just shook her head, turned back around, and continued following Saikhan and Mako to the docks. Tenzin watched her sadly as she walked away. When she was out of sight,

he made his way back to the women's dormitory to check on Korra one last time before going back to the main residence to get some sleep.


	8. Looking for Answers

When Lin got back to her apartment, she expected it to be a silent as it was when she left. Instead, she heard the soft sound of music coming from the apartment's extra

bedroom. She walked over to room and opened the door to find her oldest nephew sleeping with his head on top of a stack of handwritten notes.

Baatar Jr. had moved to the city after he got into the Masters of Engineering program at United Republic University a year ago. But even though he and Lin lived together, they

hardly saw each other because of Lin's long hours at work and Baatar's schedule at school, the hours he spent at the library doing research, and the firebender he had been

dating for the past few months.

Lin walked over to the bed and turned off the radio, then slowly pulled out the notes from under Baatar's head, hoping he didn't wake up. Like the rest of the Bei Fongs, the

littlest sound or movement could wake Baatar out of the deepest of sleeps. Fortunately, the only thing Baatar did was stir, turn over, and keep on sleeping. Lin placed the notes

on the bedside table, then left the room to get some much needed sleep.

The next morning, Bolin was running to the dinning room at the main house as he buttoned up his shirt with Pabu clinging to his shoulder, hoping that he hadn't missed

breakfast. He had waited for Korra to come to reading room till midnight the previous night. When she never showed up, he assumed that everything was fine and went back to

his room at the men's dormitory. Now it was morning and he had slept in, which almost never happened since Bolin was such a light sleeper after all the years he spent on the

street and Mako, who was always up with the sun, would always wake Bolin up as he was getting ready for the day. Even after they moved to the island and got separate rooms,

the sound of Mako getting ready in the room next to his would always wake him up in plenty of time for him to get ready and go to breakfast.

"After the night Mako and Asami had, he probably spent the night with her." Bolin thought to himself.

When he got to the dining room, Bolin let out a sigh of relief when he saw the airbender family sitting at the table, then grew confused when he didn't see his brother, Asami, or

Korra there. Tenzin and Pema looked up when they heard him enter the room.

"Good morning Bolin." Tenzin said.

"Good morning," Bolin said. "I didn't miss breakfast, did I?"

"Yes, but we saved some for you." Pema said.

"I'm so sorry I slept in," Bolin said as he sat down at the table. "I swear this never happens, Mako is so loud getting ready in the mornings that he usually wakes me up. I don't know why I slept through it this morning."

Tenzin and Pema looked at each other for a moment, then Pema stood up.

"I'm going to go give Asami her breakfast." She said.

"Can I go see Korra?" Jinora asked

Her parents had already told Ikki and Meelo an appropriate version of the previous night' events. When they asked what happened to Mako, all Tenzin told them was that he had

been taken to jail and they would never see him again.

"Not right now, sweetie. Maybe later if Korra is feeling better," Pema said, looking at the three of them. "You all go and get ready for your lessons, I will be there soon."

They left the room while Pema walked into the kitchen. A few moments later, she walked out carrying a tray that held two bowls of congee that had cinnamon, sugar, and nuts in

them, a kettle of tea, and a cup. She knelt next to Bolin and placed one of the bowls of congee in front of him before standing back up, picking up the tray, and leaving the

room. As Bolin watched her walk away, he started to become worried again. He turned back to Tenzin, who was preparing himself for the questions he knew were going to come

from the earthbender.

"What's going on?" he asked. "What happened to Korra? And where are Asami and Mako?"

When Pema arrived at Korra's room, she found the avatar asleep on her stomach with bandages covering her back and bindings that were wrapped around her shoulders, chest,

and stomach to hold them in place. Sleeping next to her, with her head on the bed and her hand wrapped around Korra's, was Asami. Pema walked over to Korra's bedside table

and placed the tray on it before turning back to Asami. She placed her hand on her back and slowly began to rub circles on it, just like she did with her children to wake them up

in the morning.

"Asami, wake up honey." she said softly.

Asami let out a groan and opened her eyes, blinking them a couple of times as she sat up, stretched, and looked at the window. Judging from the position of the sun, she had

only been sleeping for an hour at most.

"Good morning." Pema said, motioning to the bedside table. "I brought you some breakfast."

Asami smiled at her.

"Thank you." she said, taking the bowl from the tray.

Pema looked at the still sleeping Korra.

"How is she doing?" she asked.

Asami looked at her friend sadly as she swallowed a bite of her food.

"She was quiet the whole time we cleaned her up and Ying Na bandaged her back. She gave Korra some tea with sleeping herbs so she could get some rest, but said that someone had to stay with her to prevent her from rolling onto her back," she said. "She said she would be back after she finishes her morning chores."

At that moment, the door to the room slid open and Ying Na walked in.

"Good morning Ms. Sato, Ms. Pema." She said.

"Good Morning Ying Na." Pema said.

The healer walked over the bed and moved the blanket down to Korra's waist to examine the bandage.

"Did she move around at all?" she asked.

Asami shook her head.

"No, she stayed asleep the whole time." she said.

"I thought she would," Ying Na said. "I gave her enough herbs to keep her sleeping till this afternoon. The more rest she gets, the more time she has to at least physically heal."

She turned back to Asami.

"You go finish your breakfast," she said. "I'll stay with her."

"Will you send someone to get me when she wakes up?" Asami asked.

Ying Na nodded.

"I promise." she said.

Asami reached over and gave Korra's hand one last squeeze, then placed her half eaten bowl of congee back on the tray and turned to Pema.

"I'll finish this in the dining room and clean everything up." She said.

Pema nodded.

"Thank you dear." she said.

She watched as Asami stood up, picked up the tray, and left the room before turning to Ying Na.

"I need to go give the children their lessons, but I'll be back later to check on Korra." she said.

She turned to leave, but stopped when she heard Ying Na's voice.

"Ms. Pema?" she said.

Pema turned back around.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Please forgive me for thinking this, but after seeing everything that boy has done, I hope he doesn't make it to see his trial." Ying Na said.

Pema leaned down to gently move some of Korra's hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear before saying,

"You're not the only one, Ying Na."

Bolin looked at Tenzin, disbelief and anger shining in his eyes.

"You're lying!" he cried.

Tenzin looked at him sadly.

"I'm sorry, I know that this is hard to hear," he began.

"No, I know my brother and he would never do that!" Bolin said.

"Yes Bolin, he did." They both heard.

They turned and saw Asami walking into the room. She walked over to the table, placed the tray she was holding on it, and took a seat next to Bolin before continuing,

"I didn't want to believe it either, Bolin, but Tenzin's telling you the truth."

"But why?" Bolin said. "Why would Mako do this?"

"The night you all came here after the raid at the Sato mansion, Mako told Korra he wanted to have sex with her and if she refused, he would reveal a secret he knew about her that she's been keeping from all of us." Tenzin said.

"What was her secret?" Bolin asked.

The airbender shook his head.

"We don't know, she told Lin and Chief Saikhan last night when they were questioning her, but they refused to tell us," he said. "When Korra is ready, she'll tell us herself."

Bolin looked down at his still full bowl of congee and used his chopsticks to play with the food, his appetite now gone. After a few moments of doing this in silence, he spoke up.

"Where's Mako now?" He asked.

"Chief Saikhan took him to the police station last night," Tenzin said. "He's probably at City Hall standing in front of a judge right now."

"What about Korra? Can I go see her?" he asked.

"No right now, Bolin. She's still sleeping." Asami said. "Maybe later, if she's feeling up to it."

Just then, one of the air acolytes walked into the room.

"Master Tenzin, the telephone in your office is ringing." He said.

Tenzin gave him a nod, got up from the table, and left the room as Asami and Bolin quietly finished their breakfast, despite the fact that neither one of them were hungry

anymore. Afterwards, when they were washing their dishes in the kitchen, Asami looked at Bolin.

"You're going to see him, aren't you?" she asked.

Bolin sighed.

"I have to Asami, I have to find out why he did this."

"You're not the only one," she said. "Do you mind finishing up while I go get ready?"

Bolin nodded and finished cleaning the dishes while Asami went back to her room to change. Fifteen minutes later, they were on a ferry heading towards the city.

Tenzin quickly walked into the office and picked up the receiver off the telephone that was sitting on his desk.

"Councilmen Tenzin." He said.

"It's Saikhan." he heard the Chief of Police say.

"Has Mako been in front of the judge yet?" Tenzin asked.

"Yes, he pleaded not guilty, no surprise there." He said. "The judge set his bail at 50,000 yuans."

"I just told his brother what he did." Tenzin said. "Don't be surprised if he shows up wanting to see Mako."

"Do you think he'll pay the bail?" Saikhan asked.

"No, Bolin doesn't have a yuan to his name." Tenzin said. "I believe he's just looking for answers."

"There's another reason I called you." Saikhan said.

"What is it?" Tenzin asked.

"Tarrlok saw me bring Mako in for his arrangement and sat in the back of the room while it was happening. Afterwards, he stopped me just before I was about to leave for the station and starting asking questions about the girl Mako had raped. I told him that she was an air acolyte who was choosing to remain anonymous until trial because she hadn't told her family about everything that happened to her yet, but he didn't believe me." He said. "He said if I wasn't going to tell him who the victim was, he was going to go to the island and find out himself."

Tenzin let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. After the night he had, the last person he wanted to see or deal with was Tarrlok.

After they arrived at the prison, two correction officers escorted Asami and Bolin up two floors and down a long hallway till they reached Mako's cell.

"Remember, you have ten minutes with the prisoner and neither of you are allowed to touch him," one of the officer said.

He unlocked the door and ushered Asami and Bolin inside the cell before he and the other officer followed them in.

"Asami! Bolin!" Mako said. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you!"

He got up from the metal cot he had been sitting on and started to move towards them when the officers stopped him.

"No physical contact with the visitors, prisoner Mako," one of them said. "This is your only warning."

Asami turned to the officer that wasn't pushing Mako back to the cot.

"Do you mind giving us some privacy?" she asked.

The officer shook his head.

"Sorry Ms. Sato, but an officer must be present all times during prisoner visits," he said, motioning to Mako, "Especially ones accused of the crimes that this one is."

Asami nodded and turned back to Mako, who was looking at her with pleading eyes.

"Asami, I am so sorry. We never wanted to hurt you and we kept trying to ignore our feelings for each other," he said. "But they just kept growing and growing until we just couldn't fight it anymore."

Asami looked at him, not believing what she was hearing.

"You think this is about you falling in love with someone else?!" she said. "Mako, you're being charged with rape and blackmail! Forget about the fact that you and I are definitely not together anymore, how could you do something like this?!"

A look of disbelief appeared on Mako's face.

"She's saying I raped her?" he said. "She's lying! She wanted it just as much as I did!"

"Really, if she wanted it so much, why did I spend last holding her hand so she would stay calm while Chief Saikhan took pictures of everything you had done to her and the island's healer treated her wounds," she said. "Why did I help the island's healer clean her up, and then sit up with her all night so that she wouldn't move around in her sleep and aggravate the injuries you caused?!"

Mako let out a sigh.

"Look, we'll both clear this up for all of you later, but first I have get out of here," he said. "Asami, is there anyway you can pay my bail? I promise I'll pay you back the first chance I get."

"Have you not been listening to a word I've said?!" Asami yelled. "Even if I were able to pay, I wouldn't spend a yuan on you! You make me sick and I'm ashamed of myself for ever falling for you!"

She turned to the officers.

"I'd like to leave please." she said calmly.

One of the officers nodded and opened the door for her as she turned back to Bolin.

"I'll meet you in the lobby." She said before walking out the cell with the officer behind her. When the door closed behind them, Mako turned to Bolin.

"It looks like it's up to you, bro," he said. "I'm sure Butakha..."

Bolin stopped him.

"Don't call me that," he said. "You're not my brother anymore, not after what you've done."

Mako looked at him angrily.

"So that's it? After everything we've been through you're going to turn your back on your own brother because some bitch cried rape?" He said.

Tears began to form in Bolin's eyes.

"That bitch has been nothing but kind to us ever since we met her! If it hadn't been for her, we would have never been able to play in the tournament and Asami, you, and I would be out on the streets! And this is how you repay her after everything she's done?!" he cried.

For the next few moments, the only sound in the room was that of Bolin's heavy breathing as he tried to calm down. Finally, in a sad, soft voice he said,

"Why? Why did you do this Mako? Why?"

Mako turned away from his brother and was silent for a while before saying,

"She said that she could never have the same feelings for me that I did for her, but I know she's changed her mind after all the time we've spent together over the past two weeks and now that Asami and I aren't together anymore, I can finally be with the girl I truly love."

He turned back to Bolin.

"Bo, I promise everything will be explained once we get back to the island, but first we need to figure out a way to pay my bail." he said. "Now as I was saying..."

Bolin put his hand up, silencing him.

"Stop...just stop," he said. "I don't know what made you like this, but you're not the Mako I know and love, the Mako who took care of me when Mom and Dad died. I hate this Mako and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure you pay for what you did."

Bolin turned back to the guard and gave him a nod. The guard opened the door and stepped out of the cell while Bolin took one last look at his brother with tears forming in his eyes.

"Goodbye Mako." he said before walking out of the cell.

The guard closed the door behind him and as the sound of the lock sliding into place filled his ears, Bolin felt his heart shatter and let the tears fall down his face.

The next few minutes were a blur for Bolin as followed the guard down to the lobby of the station. He hadn't even been aware that he had walked over to the bench that Asami

was sitting on until she stood up and wrapped her arms around him. It was at that moment that the full reality of what Mako had done hit Bolin and he fell apart in her arms.

"Shh, it's okay." she said. "Everything's going to be okay, Bolin."

Bolin didn't say a word; he just clung to her and buried his face into her shoulder as Asami ran her hands up and down his large back. They didn't know how long they stayed wrapped in each other, but just as Bolin was starting to calm down, they heard the voice of the man they both hoped they wouldn't run into.

"Ah Miss Sato, Mr. Bolin," he said. "Come to give your brother and boyfriend a show of support?"

Asami and Bolin pulled apart and Bolin quickly wiped his remaining tears away as Asami shook her head.

"No, just looking for answers that we'll probably never get." she said. "We were just about to return for Air Temple Island."

"What a coincidence, I was just about to leave for the island myself." Tarrlok said. "Care if I join you?"

Asami and Bolin looked at each other, knowing that if they turned Tarrlok down, he would immediately know something was up. They had no other choice; he had to come

along.

Asami turned back to the councilman, giving him the best fake smile she could.

"Sure," she said. "The more the merrier."

Tarrlok smiled back at her.

"Wonderful," he said. "Shall we?"

He walked out of the police station with Asami and Bolin right behind him, both of them knowing that the day was just about to get a whole lot worse.


	9. From Bad to Worse

**A/N: I own the man that Tenzin speaks with at the police station.**

**Enjoy the chapter...**

After speaking with Saikhan and coming up with a story about where the non-existent air acolyte was for when Tarrlok arrived, Tenzin decided to go check on Korra. When he

entered the women's dormitory and turned the corner towards Korra's room, he wasn't surprised to see a familiar polar bear dog lying next to the door of her room. Even

though he had told Korra that Naga was not allowed in the house, he kept finding the Avatar's animal companion in her room when he came to wake her up for morning

meditation and knew Korra was letting her in after everyone went to bed. Looking back now, Tenzin knew he should have suspected something was wrong a couple weeks before

when he started finding Naga laying next to Korra's bedroom door in the morning instead of in her room. As he got closer to the room, Naga's ears perked up and she raised her

head to look up at Tenzin. He gave her a sad smile.

"You want to see Korra, don't you?" he asked.

Naga gave him a whine in response to hearing her master's name.

"Alright, I'll ask the healer if it's okay to let you in." Tenzin said.

He turned back to the door and knocked on it a couple of times. He heard footsteps, then Ying Na call out through the door,

"Who is it?"

"It's Tenzin," he called back softly. "Can I come in?"

After a moment of silence, he heard Ying Na call out,

"Come in."

He slid the door open and saw that Korra was now awake and wearing her robe over her bandages and underwear, being propped up in bed and looking down at her hands in

her lap. He turned to Ying Na.

"Asami said the herbs you gave her would keep her sleeping till this afternoon."

Ying Na let out a sigh.

"They were suppose to," she said. "But then she began to have a night terror and I had to use smelling salts to wake her up before she hurt herself."

Tenzin nodded and turned back to the young woman in bed.

"How are you feeling, Korra?" he asked.

Korra didn't answer him and after a few seconds of silence, Ying Na answered for her.

"I've treated her the best I can, but as I was telling Korra, the type of wounds she has will most likely leave scars." she said.

"Her polar bear dog is outside, is it alright for her to come in?" he asked.

At the mention of Naga, Korra looked up.

"As long as it stays off the bed," Ying Na said.

Tenzin nodded and went back to the door. He pulled it open and looked at Naga.

"Stay off the bed." he told her, then stepped aside for her to come in.

Naga ran into the room and over to the bed. The second she was within reach, Korra threw her arms around her and buried her face into her fur of her neck while Naga rested

her head on the top of her master's. Ying Na looked at them sadly, then turned back to Tenzin.

"I'll leave you all alone." she said before leaving the room.

Tenzin walked over Korra's desk, took the chair that Asami had spent all night sleeping in, placed it next to the bed, sat down, and placed a gentle hand on Korra's leg. The

second Korra felt his touch, she jumped, let out a gasp, and pulled away from Naga. Tenzin pulled back and held both his hands up.

"It's alright, it's just me," he said. "I'm sorry I scared you."

Korra relaxed, but turned her gaze back to Naga, who was now laying her head on Korra's lap.

"Korra, I just want you to know that we're all here for you and I promise, we won't talk about what happened until you're ready." he said.

Korra looked up at him.

"So you know what Makodid to me?" she asked.

Tenzin nodded, looking at her sadly.

"And the events that led up to him blackmailing you into letting him do what he did. But like I said, we'll talk about when you want to talk about it." he said. "And it doesn't even have to be with me. You can talk with Asami or Pema or Ying Na, even Lin."

Korra shook her head.

"No, it's best if you know now." she said.

Tenzin remained quiet as Korra looked back down at Naga and stroked her head. Finally, after a few moments, she began to talk.

"It started during the probending tournament. One night Mako and I were fighting because he though I was in love with him and went out with Bolin to get back at him for being with Asami. I was trying to tell him that he was being ridiculous when he suddenly pulled me into a kiss. Bolin saw us, got the wrong idea, and ran off crying and Mako ran after him," she said. "Then, after we made it to the finals, he pulled me aside and begged me not to tell Asami what had happened between us because he was still trying to figure out who he wanted to be with. I told him to go ahead and stay with her since the only feelings I had for him were those of friendship and that I wouldn't tell Asami because I could see how much she loved him and I didn't want to hurt her feelings by telling her that her boyfriend was an insensitive jerk who couldn't decide who he wanted to be with."

"So all of this was about protecting your friend's feelings?" Tenzin asked.

Korra looked up at him.

"It's more complicated than that," she said. "I...I like Asami, I mean I really, really like her."

It was at that moment that Tenzin understood what she was telling him.

"You have feelings for Miss Sato." he said.

"Not just her, I've had crushes on other girls before, but I've never had these feelings for boys, no matter how hard I tried." she said.

Tears began forming in Korra's eyes as she continued.

"I'm sorry I never told you, but Mako told me that you all would hate me if you ever found out! You, Pema, and the kids have become my family and it's bad enough I could lose my parents if they ever found out, I can't lose you all too!"

She buried her face into her hands and began to cry. Tenzin reached over and slowly placed a hand on her shoulder. When she didn't pull away, he moved to her back and

started to lightly rub it up and down, mindful of her injuries.

"Shh, it's alright Korra," he said. "These feelings are nothing to be ashamed about and you won't lose me or my family because of them."

Korra nodded as she started whipping her tears away.

"I know," she said. "Pema told me the same thing."

When Tenzin heard that, the hand rubbing Korra's back stopped.

"Pema knew about this?" He asked.

Korra looked at him.

"She figured out I had feelings for Asami," She said. "I didn't tell her about what Makowas doing to me."

"Did you tell Asami about your feelings?" Tenzin asked.

"I was going to after I told you all about who I really was." Korra said. "I even told Mako the night before that the deal was off."

"So why didn't you ever tell us?" Tenzin asked.

Korra was about to answer him when they both heard a knock at the door. Tenzin got up and walked over to the door.

"Who is it?" He called through the door.

"It's Ying Na, Master Tenzin." He heard the healer call back. "Mr. Bolin and Ms. Sato have returned with Concilman Tarrlok. He wishes to speak to you and Korra."

Tenzin let out a sigh.

"Tell him I'll be there soon." Tenzin said before turning back to Korra.

"How did he found out who I was!?" she asked as she started to get scared. "Saikhan promised he would keep my identity a secret!"

"He did," Tenzin said, trying to calm her down. "He called me earlier and warned me this might happen."

"What do you mean?" Korra asked.

"Saikhan was already at City Hall and saw Chief Saikhan bring Mako in for his bail hearing," he said. "He stopped Saikhan as he was leaving for the police station and asked for the name of the girl Mako hurt. When Saikhan refused to give him the name and only told him that it was an air acolyte that wanted to remain anonymous until the trial, Tarrlok told him that if he wasn't going to tell him who you were, he was going to come to the island and find out himself."

He watched for the next few moments as Korra calmed down before continuing,

"Stay here, I'm going to tell Tarrlok that you were up all night helping Ying Na heal the acolyte Mako hurt and can't be disturbed."

Korra watched as he left the room, then pulled back the blankets, got out of bed, and walked over to the wardrobe to get her clothes. She knew Tarrlok was going to use what

had happened to try and guilt her into joining his task force again and after everything she had been through during the past two weeks, she was done playing his games.

"How much longer is this going to take!? I need to be back in the city soon!" Tarrlok said.

He was waiting in courtyard in the front of the temple's main residence with Asami and Bolin, who were quickly losing their patience with him. Just then, they saw Tenzin walking

up to them from behind the main residence.

"Finally!" Tarrlok said. "We thought you were never going to show up!"

"I apologize for my tardiness, I was on the telephone with Chief Saikhan discussing Mako's bail hearing." Tenzin said.

"Ah yes, I overheard what Mako did to one of your air acolytes and I will personally see that he receives the punishment he deserves," he said. "Is there any chance I could speak to the air acolyte in question?"

"I'm afraid that's not going to be possible," Tenzin said. "She was so distraught after being interviewed by Chief Saikhan that she was unable to get the rest she desperately need, so our healer gave her some herbs to help her sleep. I talked to the healer just before calling Chief Saikhan and she said the acolyte probably won't wake up till lunchtime."

"Very well," Tarrlok said. "I'll speak to the Avatar then."

"Why?" Asami asked. "Korra had nothing to do with this."

Tarrlok turned to her.

"She lives in the same building as the victim and the suspect is her friend and teammate," he said. "That makes her a witness."

"Unfortunately, you're not going to be able to talk to Korra either. She helped our healer treat the air acolyte Mako hurt, then stayed up with her for the rest of the night to make sure she didn't move around and make her injuries worse," Tenzin said. "She just went to bed an hour ago and I'm not going to wake her up just so you can harass her."

"There's no need to get angry, Tenzin." Tarrlok said. "I just want to make sure that the police have enough evidence to send that boy to jail for a long time."

"Chief Saikhan has already collected all the evidence there was and the acolyte has already told him everything about what Mako did to her, so there's really no reason for you to be here, Tarrlok." Tenzin said. "If Korra wants to speak with you, I'll send her to the station after she wakes up, but I will not have you harassing the air acolyte after everything she has been through."

Tarrlok let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry you feel that way Tenzin," he said. "And I'm also sorry for doing what has to be done."

He turned around and shot a water whip at Asami, locking it around her wrist.

"Hey!" Asami cried as she tried to free herself.

"Tarrlok, what is the meaning of this!?" Tenzin shouted.

"Ms. Sato has been spotted out in the city after curfew numerous times over the past two weeks and has ties to a known Equalist conspirator." he said while he pulled the water whip and Asami towards him, reached for his handcuffs that were in an inside pocket in his coat, and started locking them onto Asami's wrists. "Under the law, I have to arrest her."

"Let her go!" Bolin yelled.

He ran over to Tarrlok and grabbed him by the arm.

"Well, well, Mr. Bolin, assaulting an officer of the law," he said. "For that, you can join your brother in jail."

He snapped the other half of the cuffs onto Bolin's right wrist.

"Tarrlok, stop this at once!" Tenzin said.

Tarrlok turned to him, an evil glare in his eye.

"You want to join them, Tenzin, because I can easily make that happen." He said.

"Tarrlok, let them go! Now!"

The councilman looked over Tenzin's shoulder and saw a very angry Korra.

"Ah Korra, nice of you to join us." Tarrlok said. "You just in time to see me cart your friends off to jail."

"Tarrlok, if you don't let them go right now..." She began, her hands now raised and ablaze.

"Ah, ah ah." Tarrlok said. "Do that and you'll be in the cell next to Ms. Sato."

"Korra, no!" Asami shouted. "He's not worth it!"

"She's right Korra." Tenzin said. "I'll call Chief Saikhan and get this sorted out, they'll be back here before you know it."

Korra, though still angry, extinguished her hands and lowered them.

"Nice choice, Avatar." Tarrlok said. "Keep making choices like that and your friends will be out of jail before you know it."

Korra watched as Tarrlok walked away with Asami and Bolin, his message very clear.

Unless she joined his task force, her friends would remain in jail.

Meanwhile, Lin was putting on a disguise and preparing to go out to areas of the city where the Equalists were known to hold their rallies when her telephone began to ring.

"Bei Fong." she said after picking it up.

"Aunt Lin?" a panicked voice on the other end said. "Aunt Lin, it's me."

"Baatar?" she said. "What's going on? Where are you?"

"I...I'm in jail." Baatar said.

Lin couldn't believe it. While her sister had had trouble with the law when she was a teenager, Baatar, like his father, always made it a point to stay out of trouble. So much so

that his twin brothers made fun of him for it.

"In jail!?" she said. "Why!? What happened?"

"I went to the school library after class to study and there was an Equalist rally taking place on the front steps. I managed to get through the crowd and had only been in the library for five minutes when the police pulled up. We thought they were just going to clear up the crowd and arrest the people who organized the rally, but then they came in and started arresting everyone inside the library as well. We tried to tell them we wasn't part of the rally, but they didn't listen." Baatar said.

Lin heard an angry male voice in the background before Baatar said,

"Please Aunt Lin, you have to help me! Tell them I'm no..."

Baatar's voice was cut off as the line went dead.

Now very angry and scared for her nephew, who would no doubt be in danger if the other prisoners found out who he was, Lin slammed the phone down, took off her disguise,

grabbed her coat, and left for the station.

When Tenzin failed to get Chief Saikhan on the telephone, he and Korra went down to the station to talk to him in person. What they found when they got there was complete

chaos as the lobby was filled with angry citizens demanding to speak with either Tarrlok or Saikhan. Tenzin walked over to a man standing in the back of the crowd.

"Excuse me sir, but can you tell me what's going on here?" he asked.

The man turned around and instantly recognized the airbending master.

"Councilman Tenzin, Councilman Tarrlok's task force broke up an Equalist rally at the URU library, but then they came inside and started arresting students who had nothing to do with the rally!" the man said. "My daughter was arrested and she had nothing to do with those people! She's a waterbender who was studying for healers' licence exam!"

Tenzin nodded.

"I'm sorry sir, let me go see what I can do about getting your daughter and the rest of the students released." he said.

He turned to Korra.

"Wait here while I go sort this out." he said.

Korra nodded and watched as he started pushing his way through the crowd to get to the front before hearing a familiar voice call out her name. She turned to see the former chief of police walking up to her, looking angrier than Korra had ever seen her.

"Lin?" she said. "What are you doing here?"

"I have a bone to pick with Tarrlok." Lin said. "Are these the parents of the students who were arrested?"

"Yeah, but how did you find out about that?" Korra asked.

"My nephew is one of the students who was unlawfully arrested inside in the library." Lin said.

Just then, an officer who looked scared out of his mind stood up on top of the front desk with a megaphone in his hand.

"Attention everyone! If you are a relative of a student who was arrested at URU today, Chief Saikhan and Councilman Tarrlok regret to inform you all that none of the students will be released until the task force has determined that they have no Equalist ties," He called out through the megaphone. "Now I must ask that you all clear the lobby and return to your homes at once. Failure to do so will result in your immediate arrest!"

But the crowd didn't leave the lobby. Instead, they only got louder as they demanded the release of their loved ones. Lin grabbed Korra's hand, which startled her a little bit.

"Come on, we need to get out of here before a riot starts." she said.

"But Tenzin..." Korra began.

"Can find his own way out," Lin said. "Now come on.

She pulled a reluctant Korra out of the station and over to the nearest pillar and they watched the entrance in silence, waiting and hoping that Tenzin would soon come out.

Finally, after a few moments, Lin spoke up.

"So what are you two doing here anyway?" she asked. "I thought you were suppose to be resting today."

Korra looked down at the ground.

"Tarrlok showed up on the island wanting to talk to the "acolyte" that Makoattacked," she said. "When Tenzin refused, he demanded to speak with me and when Tenzin refused again, he arrested Asami and Bolin on some made-up charges."

At that moment, the front doors of the station opened and Tenzin walked out, much to Korra's relief. However, her friends weren't with him.

"Where are Asami and Bolin?" she asked.

Tenzin looked at her sadly.

"According to the officer, they haven't been processed yet and likely won't be until the students all are," he said. "Most of the students' loved ones are being arrested as we speak because they're refusing to leave."

Korra let out a sigh.

"So what do we do now?" she asked.

"I'm afraid we're stuck for how, kid. With the amount of students arrested, along with their relatives, it's going to take hours to process them all. Looks like the soonest we'll be able to get your friends and Baatar out is tomorrow morning," she said. "At least they better hope Baatar is out by the morning. If not, I'm radioing Zao Fu and informing his mother. If there's one thing Tarrlok doesn't want, it's to be in my sister's path when she finds out that he did to her son."

Little did either of them know that Korra was already forming a plan to confront Tarrlok and get Asami, Bolin, and the rest of the students and their loved ones out of jail that

night.


	10. Missing and Found Out

The next morning, Lin awoke to the soft sound of music playing. She had been up half the night, too worried about what Baatar was going through at the prison to sleep. Finally,

she turned on the radio as a last resort and finally fell asleep to the sounds of a late night jazz program. Lin was still half asleep when the music was abruptly cut off by a

reporter's voice saying,

"We interrupt this program to bring you this special report. Late last night, Equalists infiltrated City Hall and attacked Councilman Tarrlok before capturing Avatar Korra. Details are still co..."

Lin, now fully awake, cut off the radio and got out of bed. After changing into her uniform and, she grabbed on her coat and left the apartment.

Knowing that she would get nowhere if she went up to the front desk again, Lin snuck to the back of the station, where the officers' entrance was, and waited for an officer to

come out. She had only been waiting for a couple of minutes when the door opened and the same officer who had ordered the parents of the students to leave the station the

previous day walked out. He looked exhausted and Lin could tell that he had been working all night.

"Perfect." Lin thought.

She shot out one of her cables towards the officer and wrapped it around him, pulling him towards her and hitting a pressure point in his neck.

"Thank you Aunt Ty Lee." She said to herself as she lowered the now unconscious officer to the ground and retracted her cable from around him.

Grabbing the keys from his belt, she ran up to the back door and quickly unlocked the door and got inside.

Lin crept around the first floor, where non-violent and non-bender prisoners were held, and searched the cells for Asami, Bolin, and Baatar. When she didn't find them, she grew

angry, knowing there was only one other floor Tarrlok would put them on. She snuck upstairs the very top floor, where only the most violent criminals were kept, and two empty

cells later found the one holding her nephew and quickly unlocked the door, waking him up.

"Aunt Lin?" He said sleepily as he sat up on his cot.

Lin ran over and knelt next to him.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "Where are the other students?"

"They were released hours ago, but Councilman Tarrlok had the officers threw me in here because they said I resisted arrest." he said. "But I swear I did..."

"I know," she said, stopping him. "You only in here because of me."

She stood up.

"Come on, we've got two more people to get." she said.

Baatar got up and followed her out of the cell. Three cells later, Lin unlocked another one and Baatar immediately recognized the young woman inside as the Future Industries

heiress.

"Wake up, it's time to go," Lin said. "Korra's missing."

Asami quickly got up from her cot.

"What happened?!" she asked.

"The Equalists captured her," Lin said. "Come on, we've got one more person to get."

They didn't come to Bolin's cell until near the end of the block. When Lin opened the door, she saw Bolin standing in the back right corner and immediately knew what he was

doing.

"Zip it up, kid, we're leaving." She said.

Bolin let out a yelp.

"I'm not done yet!" He cried.

Lin let out an irritated sigh and turned around.

"Hurry up, we need to get out of here," she said. "Korra's in trouble, Amon took her."

"What?!" Bolin said. "No, she can't be gone!"

He quickly finished up and turned back around.

"Come on, we've got an Avatar to find." Lin said.

As Bolin ran towards the entrance of his cell, Lin saw that a certain part of his clothing was still open. Smirking, she moved her hand upwards slightly, causing Bolin to stop and

let out another yelp as grabbed his crouch.

"Don't forget to close up shop." she told him.

An embarrassed look spread across Bolin's face as he followed Lin out of the cell.

When they arrived at Tenzin's office, Lin told everyone that through her search for her officers, she recently discovered evidence that suggested that the Equalists were hiding in

Republic City's underground tunnels. Deciding it was a good place to start searching, they left the office, ran to a nearby alley, and used Lin's seismic sense until they found an

entrance to the tunnels. Lin quickly metalbended the gate open and everyone ran inside before Lin shut the door behind them. They started searching the tunnels one by one for

Korra and the missing officers, but after searching three tunnels, they still hadn't found anybody.

Lin pointed down another tunnel.

"Let's go this way." she said.

"But what if Korra and the officers aren't down there?" Asami asked.

"Then we keep searching until we find her!" Lin snapped.

Tenzin placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Lin, there is no need for that." he said. "We'll find them soon."

Lin let out a frustrated sigh, turned around, and started down the tunnel. As Baatar walked passed her, Asami took hold of his arm and motioned of him to stay behind. When

they were far enough away from the group, Asami spoke up.

"Hey, is it me, or is your aunt seem really worried about Korra?" she asked Baatar.

"Of course she's worried," he said. "Both for the Avatar and her officers."

"I know, but she seems _really _worried." Asami said. "And she didn't say _them_ when she was yelling at me just now, she said _her_."

Baatar let out a sigh.

"So, you've noticed it too." he said.

Asami looked at him.

"Notice what?" she asked.

"How my aunt acts around Korra," he said. "It's been happening ever since Korra started coming over to our apartment to heal my aunt's injuries."

"What do you mean?" Asami asked.

"On the days that Korra comes to the apartment, Aunt Lin doesn't act like she usually does," Baatar said. "She's different...happier."

"Maybe she's just happy not to be in pain anymore." Asami said.

Baatar shook his head.

"No, it's not like that," he said. "I've haven't seen her act this way in years, not since..."

He paused.

"Not since when?" Asami asked.

Baatar looked at her.

"Not since my aunt Izzy died." he said.

Asami stopped, too stunned by what she had just heard. She knew who Izayoi Bei Fong was from all the news reports she had heard when she was eight year old and how her

death had reminded her of the death of her mother two years before.

Chief Bei Fong's beloved wife had been standing in front of the bakery that had been in her family since the city's founding and locking up for the night when a car jumped the

curb, ran over her, and crashed into the entrance of the bakery before quickly pulling back and speeding away. Though the healers at Republic City Hospital had done everything

they could to save her life, Izayoi died in the early hours of the morning after the crash. What had made the situation even more heartbreaking was that Izayoi had been

pregnant and even though the healers had delivered her baby, a boy, soon after she arrived at the hospital, the trauma he had gone through while still inside his mother's womb

and his early birth had been too much for his small body to handle and he joined her in death just an hour after she perished.

Asami was brought out of her thoughts by Lin's voice.

"Everyone, hide!" she called out.

Asami and Baatar ran over to a dark corner where the rest of the group has hidden just seconds before a motorcycle sped passed them. A few feet away, a part of the wall

opposite them opened up, revealing a hidden passage, and the motorcycle drove inside before the wall closed up again. Everyone ran over the area of the wall that had opened

up and Lin moved her hand over the wall until she could sense the metal of the door's latch and used her bending to unlock and opened the door. After everyone ran inside and

Lin closed the door behind them, they snuck down the passageway until they came to an open space where a few Equalists were loading supplies onto a tram that sat on a track

that led into one of two tunnels. When they were finished, they all got on the tram and one of them gave a thumbs up to another Equalist who was holding a clipboard and

standing in front of the entrance of the tunnels.

"All set for the training camp, sir." The Equalist giving the thumbs up said.

The Equalist standing in front of the tunnel gave a nod before the tram disappeared down the tunnel. A moment later, another tram appeared through the second tunnel and a

second group of Equalists got off it.

"You two, come with me," the Equalist standing in front of the tunnels said, pointing to a couple people in the group. "We need to get the prisoners' meals from the mess hall."

"That has to be where they're keeping Korra and my officers." Lin said as they watched the Equalists walk away. "Come on."

They all followed her onto the tram and a second later, were off down the tunnel.

After subduing two Equalists who were standing guard at the entrance of the prison and ordering Asami, Bolin, and Baatar to keep an eye out for more, Lin and Tenzin walked

inside the prison and began searching for Korra. After a few minutes of finding nothing but empty cells, Lin, who was a few steps ahead of Tenzin, suddenly stopped in front of

one of the cells and bent back the bars before going inside. Thinking that Korra was in the cell, Tenzin ran over to it, but found no sign of the Avatar. Instead, on two sets of

bunk beds and waking up from all the noise being made, were Lin's missing officers.

"Chief Bei Fong?" one of them asked as he woke up. "Is that you?"

Lin looked at them sadly.

"I'm too late," She said. "Your bending is gone, isn't it?"

The officer nodded.

"Amon took it the first night." he said.

Lin let out a sigh.

"I'm so sorry," she said. "I'll make this right, I promise."

"What about Korra?" Tenzin asked. "Which cell is she in?"

The officers looked at him, confused.

"Why would the Avatar be here?" One of them asked.

"Councilman Tarrlok said that the Equalists attacked him and Korra at City Hall last night and kidnapped her after using one of those gloves on him." Lin said.

"Well, they didn't bring her here," the officer said. "We've been the only prisoners here for the past two weeks."

Tenzin reached up and started stroking his beard.

"Where else would they have taken Korra if they didn't bring her here?" he said.

"We can figure out that out later," Lin said. "Come on, we need to get out of here."

Meanwhile, Asami, Bolin, and Baatar were looking at the now awake Equalists who Bolin had just incased in earth after they tried to pull a surprise attack on them.

"You'll never get away with this!" One of them shouted. "It's meal time and once the others come back with the food and sees what's happ..."

Bolin pulled the mask off the Equalist who had been threatening them and grabbed him by the chin, silencing him and forcing him to look Bolin in the eye.

"Which cell are you keeping Korra in?!" he said.

"Who?" the other Equalist asked.

"Avatar Korra, some of you Equalists attacked City Hall, knocked out Councilman Tarrlok, and took her." Asami said.

She pulled the mask off the other Equalist and grabbed him by the hair.

"Now, we'll ask you one more time, where is the Avatar?!" she said.

"We don't have her, and we never infiltrated City Hall!" the Equalist said. "Whatever Councilman Tarrlok told you is a lie!"

Asami let go of his hair.

"We'll see about that." she said.

Just then, Lin and Tenzin returned with Lin's officers.

"What happened here?" Lin asked, looking at the trapped Equalists.

"These two tried woke up and tried to attack us." Bataar said.

Asami turned to them.

"Where's Korra?" she asked.

Lin let out a sad sigh.

"She's not here," she said. "The Equalists are keeping her somewhere else."

"I'm telling you, we don't have her!" one of the trapped Equalists said.

"Shut up!" Bolin shouted at him. "Even if you are telling the truth, why would Tarrok lie about being attacked?"

The truth hit Tenzin like a ton of boulders.

"Because he's the one who took Korra!" he said. "He lied to us all."

Suddenly, an alarm started sounding.

"Time to go, people!" Bolin shouted.

Everyone except the two Equalists jumped back onto the tram and sped down the tunnel. When they were close enough to the end of the tunnel and could see the army of

Equalists waiting for them, they knew they had to find another way out and they had to do it fast.

"Bend the roof open!" Lin shouted at Bolin.

The earthbender quickly did what he was told as Lin bended a part of the track up. When the tram hit the bent part of the track, it shot strait up into the hole and into one of the

city's many alleyways. Once the tram came to a stop, they all jumped off and headed for City Hall.

The first call Tenzin made when they reached City Hall was to Chief Saikhan, who arrived just as Tenzin was finishing up his last call to the council members. When Lin saw him

enter City Hall, she walked up to him and grabbed his arm.

"We need to talk," she said in a deathly tone.

She pulled him over to a corner where they wouldn't be heard.

"I want to know everything that happened last night after you ordered the arrest of those students and their relatives. " she said.

Saikhan let out a sigh.

"Lin, I didn't know anything about that. After my call with Councilman Tenzin, we got word of a robbery with alleged Equalist ties. Before I left for the scene, we also got word of that the Equalists were going to be holding a rally on the URU campus and I ordered the officers that were going to be patrol the area to only bring people in if the protest got out of hand." he said. "When I returned to the station at sundown, I found that Tarrlok had ordered the arrest of all those students at the rally and library and arrested the Avatar's companions himself and immediately ordered all of their releases. I then told Tarrlok that from now on, only I could give orders for arrests and if he ever tried to pull what he did yesterday, I would end our partnership."

Lin was just about to ask him what Tarrlok's reaction had been when the doors to City Hall once again opened and the rest of the council, including Tarrlok, walked inside.

"Thank you all for coming so quickly." Tenzin said.

"Do you know where the Equalists have taken Korra?" Tarrlok asked.

"No, but we've figured out that it wasn't the Equalist who took her." Tenzin said, looking at Tarrlok angrily. "It was you!"

Tarrlok had a look of shock on his face, but both Tenzin and Lin could see the panic that was starting to show in his eyes.

"I am shocked and offended that you would accuse me of such a hideous act!" he said. "You saw with your own eyes what those Equalists did to this place and to me! How could you possibly think I had anything to do with this?!"

"You planted that evidence and the Equalists never attacked here!" Lin said. "Now, we'll ask you one last time, where have you taken the Avatar?!"

Tarrlok started walking backwards towards the door as Lin, Tenzin, and Korra's friends prepared to stop him from leaving. Just as they were about to strike, Tarrlok raised his

hands and everyone instantly lost control of their bodies. He kept his hands raised until they all crumpled to the ground and lost conscious, then turned and fled City Hall.

When Lin woke up, she quickly looked around and saw that everyone except Tenzin was waking up. She crawled over and gave him a slap in the face, waking him up. Tenzin's

eyes flew open and he looked up at Lin, holding his cheek.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"Had to wake you up somehow." Lin said.

They both got up and walked over to where everyone else had gathered. "Is everyone alright?" Tenzin asked.

They all nodded.

"Where's Tarrlok?" Lin asked.

"Long gone, I'll go back to the station and alert the force." Saikhan said before turning the officers. "You all come with me."

The officers looked shocked.

"But Captain, we do..." One of them started to say.

"It's Chief now and I know you don't have your bending anymore, but that doesn't mean you're unable to protect this city and we're going to need you now more than ever." Saikhan said. "Now come on, the sooner we get you checked out and cleared by the station's healer, the sooner we can put you to work."

The still in shock officers followed him and the rest of the council members out of the door while Tenzin and Lin turned back to Asami, Bolin, and Baatar.

"We've only been out for a few minutes at most, so we can still catch up with Tarrlok if we hurry," Tenzin said. "While the police are searching by ground, we can search by air on Oogi."

Everyone agreed and they ran back outside to climb back onto the sky bison. A few moments later, they were back in the air.

Hours passed and night had fallen over the city. Despite flying over and searching the city numerous times, there was still no sign of Korra or Tarrlok. Knowing how tired and

hungry his bison was, Tenzin let out a sigh and turned to the rest of the group who were sitting on Oogi's saddle.

"Listen, I know that we all want to find Korra," he said. "But it's almost midnight and Oogi isn't going to be able to last much longer. Let's go back to the island and we can sta..."

He stopped at the sound of a loud howling coming from below. Bolin let out a gasp.

"That's Naga!" he said.

He leaned over the side of the saddle for a few moments before pointing downwards.

"There she is!" he said. "And she has something on her back!"

Tenzin quickly guided the bison down towards the street. Once Oogi touched down and everyone saw what, or rather who, was on Naga's back, they immediately jumped off

Oogi and ran towards the polar bear dog.

"Korra!" Tenzin called out.

He was the first one to reach Korra, who had just opened her eyes at the sound of her name being called. When he reached over and gently gripped her arm to help her off

Naga, Korra's tired eyes suddenly grew wide and she started fighting to release herself from Tenzin's grasp.

"Korra, calm down. It's okay, you're safe now." he said.

But Korra continued to struggle until she broke free of his grasp and pulled her arm back, which caused her to lose her balance and fall off Naga. Tenzin went to help her up,

only to be stopped when Naga growled at him. She then laid down next to her master, shielding her with her from the group. Tenzin tried to reach out towards Korra again, only

to be stopped by Lin.

"Don't, you're going to get your arm ripped off," she said, holding up her metal covered arm that was covered by her coat. "Let me get her, I have protection."

Not waiting for an answer from her ex, Lin walked over to the polar bear dog and knelt next to Korra, who was curled up in a ball against Naga's belly. Whether she was doing it

for comfort or warmth, Lin didn't know, but she took her coat and spread it over the shivering young woman anyway. It was only when she was doing this that she saw that

Korra was not only shivering, by hyperventilating as well. Knowing that the Avatar was in the middle of a panic attack, Lin began to reach out towards her, only to stop who

Naga began growling at her.

"It's alright," Lin told the dog, in a soft, but firm voice. "I'm just going to calm Korra down before she hurts herself."

Naga stopped growling, but continued to give Lin a threatening stare as she turned back to Korra.

"Korra? Korra, can you hear me?" she said.

Korra didn't answer her, though her breathing did slow down a little at the sound of Lin's voice. But it wasn't enough to ease Lin's worry.

"Korra, I need to you to take a deep breath while I count to ten, then let it out while I count down from ten, okay?" she said.

Korra nodded jerkily and Lin started counting to ten, keeping her hand on the ground to keep track of Korra's heartbeat and watching as her body rose as she took in a breath.

It took three attempts to get Korra to ten and another three attempts before her heart rate slowed down to a normal level.

"Alright, you can stop now." Lin said.

Korra looked at her with recognition in her eyes.

"Lin?" she said in a tired voice.

"Hey kid," Lin said. "We're been looking all over the city for you."

"Sorry." Korra said.

"It's okay, we're just glad you're alright." Lin said.

Korra closed her eyes and buried herself deeper into Lin's coat.

"Tired." she murmured before falling asleep.

Lin leaned over and took Korra into her arms before standing back up and turning back to the group, who were all looking at her.

"What? She's exhausted," she said. "Now, which one of you is going to be responsible for getting her polar bear dog back to the island?"

"I will." Bolin said. "She likes me."

Lin nodded.

"Alright, we'll take the bison and meet you there." Lin said.

She carried Korra up Oogi's tail and tried to lay her down on the saddle, only to have Korra wrap her arms around her neck and refuse to let go. Letting out a sigh, Lin sat down

on the saddle and set Korra in her lap. Everyone else except Bolin climbed onto Oogi and they were back in the air and on their way to Air Temple Island a minute later. During

the ride, Lin's focus remained on the young woman in her lap. What she didn't notice was that while her eyes remained on Korra, the eyes of her nephew and the Sato heiress

remained on her.


	11. The Calm Before the Storm

**The captain belongs to me. Also, the flashback scene in this chapter will be done in **_**Italics.**_

**Here is chapter 11...**

The next morning, Lin was awoken by a knock on the door of the guest room in the island's main residence.

"Chief Bei Fong," she heard Jinora say. "Breakfast is ready."

Lin opened her eyes and sat up in bed.

"Be right there." she called back as she stretched.

She heard Jinora walk away as she turned back to Korra, who was lying asleep next to her in the small bed, as memories of the previous night came back to her.

_After landing Oogi in the island's courtyard, Tenzin turned to Lin._

"_Baatar, wait here for Bolin. He'll take you to the men's dormitory and you can take Mako's old room for tonight," he said. "Asami, Lin, take Korra and come with me." _

_He jumped off the bison and Lin stood up with Korra still in her arms and walked down its tail with Asami right behind her. They followed Tenzin to the women's dormitory and _

_took Korra to her room while Tenzin woke up Ying Na. When Tenzin and Ying Na arrived, the healer immediately ordered Lin and Tenzin out of the room, allowing only Asami to _

_stay in case Korra woke up and had to be calmed down. Once they were out of the room, Tenzin slid down to the floor and put his head in his hands. _

"_I should have known Korra would try something like this," he said. "I should have moved her to the main house and locked her in the guest room." _

_Lin sat down next to him, reached over, and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. _

"_Tenzin, you and I both know that wouldn't have stopped her. When we were at the station, I could already see her planning out how she was going to get her friends out of jail." she said. _

_They were silent for the next half hour until the door to Korra's room opened and Asami and Ying Na walked our of the room before closing the door softly behind them. Lin and _

_Tenzin stood up. _

"_Well?" Lin asked._

"_She's got some scrapes and bruises and she'll probably be starving come morning," Ying Na said. "But other than that, she should be fine after a good night's rest."_

"_After the day we've had, I say that goes for all of us," Tenzin said. "Asami, Ying Na, I'll see you at breakfast. Lin, come with me and I'll show you to the guestroom." _

_Asami and Ying Na walked towards their respective rooms while Lin and Tenzin left for the main residence, though Lin was fighting the urge to stay with Korra, an urge that _

_continued as Tenzin led her to guestroom and bid her goodnight. _

"_Stop it, you're just feeling like this because she wanted you to hold her the whole way here," she said to herself as she got out of her armor and climbed into bed. "Besides, Ms. Sato and Ying Na are just a few rooms down from her. If she needs anything, they'll be the ones she'll go to." _

_Later that night, Lin awoke to a noise coming from outside. Fearing the worst, she leaped out of bed and ran out of her room to the courtyard. When she got there, she found it _

_empty except for Korra's polar bear dog, who lifted her head up and looked at Lin for a moment before lying back down. Not convinced that the noise she heard was from Naga, _

_Lin lifted her foot, slammed it into the ground, and used her seismic sense on the courtyard, immediately sensing another familiar heartbeat next to Naga. Letting out a sigh, _

_she walked over to the polar bear dog and looked over her large back to find Korra lying asleep against Naga with her earthbender friend's fire ferret curled up in her lap. _

_Shaking her head, Lin walked around to the front of Naga and knelt next to Korra. _

"_Korra?" she said softly. _

_Though Pabu's head popped up at the sound of Lin's voice, all Korra did was nestle deeper into Naga's side and keep sleeping. _

"_Korra, wake up." Lin said again, this time reaching out and touching Korra on the arm. _

_This caused Korra to jolt away, her eyes wide. She looked around franticly for a moment before her eyes settled on the other woman. _

"_Lin?" she said. "What are you doing out here?" _

"_I should be asking you the same thing." Lin said. _

_Korra looked at her guiltily. _

"_I'm sorry, I didn't wake anyone else up, did I?" she asked. _

"_No, I'm the only one, but that's probably because the guest room is right next to the courtyard," Lin said. "What are you doing out here?" _

_Korra let out a sigh. _

"_It's nothing," she said. "I woke up from a bad dream and couldn't get back to sleep in my room so I came out here to find Naga because laying against her always puts me to sleep." _

_Lin didn't need her seismic sense to know that Korra was lying, but she was too tired to press her any further. _

"_Well, you can't stay out here all night," she said. "Come on, I'll take you back to your room." _

_She saw Korra's eyes fill with fear. _

"_No, please!" she said. "Can't I just stay out here? I promise I'll be quiet, no one else will know I'm out here!" _

_That's when Lin realized why Korra was so scared._

"_Your dream was about that boy and what he did to you." she said. _

_Korra nodded slightly. _

"_Only this time, he had Tarrlok's face. When I woke up and saw that I was in the same room as the one in my dream, I panicked, ran out of the room, and didn't stop running until I got here and saw Naga," she said. "Please, don't make me go back there."_

_Lin nodded._

"_All right, but you still can't stay out here," she said. "You can stay in my room for tonight and in the morning, you can ask Tenzin to move you to another room." _

_Korra nodded and allowed Lin to help her up and lead her to the guest room. When they got there, Korra got into bed while Lin started making herself comfortable on the floor. _

_Korra leaned over the side of the bed. _

"_What are you doing?" Korra asked. _

"_Giving you the bed," Lin said. "I'll be okay sleeping here." _

"_Lin, you don't have to do that. As uncomfortable as these beds are, the floor is worse and your ribs are still hurt," Korra said. "Come on, we can both use the bed." _

_Knowing that Korra wasn't going to give up until they were both in bed, Lin got up and crawled into bed next to her. A few moments later they were both sound asleep with _

_Korra against the wall and Lin next to the edge of the small bed._

Letting out a sigh, Lin got out of bed and bended her armor on, careful not to wake up a still sleeping Korra. Afterwards, she turned back to the bed and saw that Korra had

rolled over and was now lying in the same spot that Lin had left moments before, her hair now covering part of her face. Before she could stop herself, Lin walked back over to

the bed, pulled the blanket more securely around Korra, and brushed the hair out of her face. She watched as Korra nestled deeper into the blanket before settling down, then

turned and left the room. It was only after she had quietly shut the door behind her that the realization of what she had just done hit her and she began to silently curse herself.

"Stop this!" she though to herself. "You can't keep thinking about her! She loves that Sato girl and you're only going to get your heart broken again!"

Shaking her head to free it of thoughts of the Avatar, Lin walked to the dinning room where everyone was gathering for breakfast. But before she could sit down, Tenzin ran over

to her.

"Lin, thank the spirits!" he said. "Asami went to check on Korra and found her bed empty! We need to start searching the island imme...!"

Lin held up her hand, stopping him.

"There's no need for that," she said. "Korra is sleeping in my room."

"What is she doing in your room?" Asami asked.

"She had a nightmare and didn't want to be alone, so she went out to the courtyard to find her polar bear dog. The noise she made woke me up and when I went outside to find out where the noise was coming from, I found her asleep next to the mutt," Lin said. "I woke her up and tried to take her back to her room, but she refused to go. So I took her back to my room and gave her the bed while I took the floor."

She turned to Tenzin.

"She's going to need another bedroom," she said. "She can't stay in that one anymore."

Tenzin nodded.

"Why can't Korra use her room anymore?" Ikki asked.

Tenzin was trying to think of what he could tell his youngest daughter when Pema came out of the kitchen holding a large tray.

"All right everyone, here's breakfast," she said. "And I left Korra's in the kitchen for when she wakes up."

Tenzin immediately got up and went to help his heavily pregnant wife and all talk of the previous night's events stopped while everyone had breakfast.

Korra woke up a couple hours later and after eating breakfast, told Tenzin, Lin, Bolin, and Bataar about everything she had learned about Tarrlok and what Amon had done to

him. When she was finished, Lin got up, picked up the kettle that Pema and Asami had left, and took it back to the kitchen, where she found Asami and Pema at the sink

washing dishes.

"Here's the kettle." Lin said.

Pema turned to her.

"Does Korra need anymore?" she asked.

Lin shook her head.

"No, but there's still a lot in here." she said.

Pema walked over to the cabinet and took a cup from it, then walked over to Lin and took the kettle from her.

"The acolytes should be taking a break now from their work now." she said. "I'll go see if they need a drink."

As she left the kitchen, Lin turned to Asami, who had been quiet ever since she entered the kitchen.

"Alright kid, what is it?" she said. "You've been giving me the cold shoulder ever since I told everyone that Korra stayed in my room last night."

Asami stopped washing dishes and turned to her.

"I've noticed how you acted yesterday while we were looking for Korra and how you were the only one she would let near her when we found her," she said. "There's something going on between you two, isn't there?"

Fear filled Lin, but she remained calm.

"I'll admit that Korra and I's relationship has improved since she first arrived in the city and I was just as worried about her as you and everyone else, especially after we realized that Tarrlok was," she told Asami. "But what the flameo would make you think that I have those kind of feelings for her?"

Asami glared at her.

"Look, Korra is my friend and after everything Mako put her through, she doesn't need someone who's going to break her heart," she said. "So if you have feelings for her that go beyond friendship, then tell her. If not, then this game you're playing stops now, understand?"

Lin could feel the anger build inside her and was about to answer Asami when Tenzin walked into the kitchen.

"Is something wrong in here?" he asked.

Asami turned back to the sink.

"No, everything's fine." she said.

Tenzin looked her for a moment, then nodded and turned to Lin.

"Can I speak with you outside?" he asked.

Lin gave him a nod and followed him out of the kitchen, but not before sending Asami a look that told the former heiress that their conversation was not over.

Lin followed Tenzin to the courtyard and listened as he bumbled for a few moments before asking her to watch over his family while he was at an emergency council meeting.

Just after she agreed to, Pema walked out carrying their youngest child and, upon hearing that Lin would be staying and helping out, handed over Meelo and told her to give him

a bath before walking back into the house. Lin turned to back to Tenzin to ask for help, only to see him flying away on his bison. Letting out a groan, Lin turned back to the

squirming airbender.

"Alright, you heard your mom." she said. "Let's get you into the tub."

Meelo's face fell and he started struggling against Lin's grasp.

"No way!" he said. "You'll never take me alive!"

He managed to free himself for a few seconds before Lin grabbed him with one of her metal cord. He continued to try and break free as Lin brought him into the house. When

they arrived at the bathroom, Meelo leaped up and used his arms and legs to block the entrance.

"Come on kid, don't make this any harder than it has to be." Lin said.

Meelo shook his head as he dug his fingers and toes into the wood of the doorframe.

"I don't wanna!" he shouted.

Just then, Lin heard footsteps and turned to find Korra walking towards them with an amused look on her face.

"Need some help?" she asked.

Lin let out a groan.

"Please." she said in a desperate voice.

Korra turned to the youngest airbender.

"Meelo, attention!" she said in a commanding voice.

Meelo immediately let go of the doorframe and saluted her. Korra walked past him and Lin into the bathroom and over to the tub. She turned on the water and tested the

temperature before putting the stopper in the drain and turning back to Lin.

"Once the tub is filled, shut off the water and get him out of his clothes and into the tub. I'll be back with some clean clothes for him." she said.

She turned to the little boy who was still saluting her.

"Meelo, Lin is now your commanding officer and you are to obey every command she gives you. Is that understood?"

"Yes Sir!" Meelo shouted.

Korra gave him a nod, then left the bathroom as Lin lowered Meelo to the floor and retracted her cable. He kept saluting her while Lin removed his pants and shoes.

"Arms up." Lin said

The little boy did as he was told, but remained at attention while Lin removed his shirt and got him into the tub before shutting off the faucet.

"Okay Meelo, at ease." Lin said.

Meelo relaxed and plopped down in the water.

"Not bad kid." she said. "Keep this up and you might become one of my officers someday."

"No way!" Meelo said. "I'm gonna be a commander like Uncle Bumi!"

Lin smirked, knowing exactly what Tenzin and Pema were in for if Meelo was even half of what Bumi was like as a child. Just then, Korra returned with a fresh set of clothes.

"I'll get him cleaned up if you get him dried off and into his clothes." she said as she placed the clothes on the bathroom counter.

"Deal." Lin said.

As she watched Meelo play in the water while Korra bathed him, Lin couldn't up but wonder what it would have been like if her son had lived and she would have been able to

have these moments like this with him. These were thoughts she usually only reserved for the anniversary of Sokka and Izayoi's deaths, but seeing Meelo had caused them to

come rushing back to her. She didn't know how much time had passed before Korra's voice broke through her thoughts.

"Hello? Lin, are you there?" Korra said.

Lin snapped back to reality.

"Sorry," she said quickly. "I had my mind on something else for a moment."

Korra pointed to the now draining tub.

"You can take him out now. Do you need me for anything else?" she asked.

Lin shook her head.

"No, I think I got it from here," she said. "Thanks for taking care of the hard part."

"No problem." Korra said.

She turned and left the bathroom as Lin grabbed two towels from one of shelves and spread it out one on the floor before turning back to the tub, deciding to have a little more

fun with the young airbender.

"Okay officer, attention!" she said.

Meelo immediately stood up and saluted her. Lin wrapped the towel around him and lifted him out of the tub. She dried him off, then grabbed the clothes on the counter.

"At ease." she said.

Meelo lowered his arm, but continue to stand still, only moving when Lin told him to lift his legs up to step into his pants and shoes and to lift his arms up when she put his shirt

on. When she finished dressing him, she stood up.

"Well done, officer," she said. "Dismissed!"

Meelo gave him her one more salute before taking off for the courtyard. Lin made sure the water had drained from the tub and was hanging the towels up to dry on the towel

rack next to the door when she heard what sounded like a bomb exploding. She ran out of the bathroom and out to the courtyard, where she found Meelo, Jinora, and Ikki

looking at across the bay at the smoke that was starting to bellow from some of the city's highest towers. Lin watched the scene play out for a second, then turned to the now

very worried children.

"Go inside and find your mother." Lin told them.

She watched as they did what they were told and went inside. Just then, Korra ran outside with Asami, Bolin, and Baatar right behind her.

"What's going on!?" she asked. "We heard an explosion!"

"The Equalists are attacking the city." Lin said.

The sound of another explosion ripped through the air. Only this time, it was close enough that everyone on the island could feel the ground slightly shake beneath their feet.

"Where's Tenzin?" Korra asked.

"At a council meeting." Lin said.

"You mean he's in the city?!" Asami said.

"Come on, we have to find him!" Korra said.

"No way, it's too dangerous!" Lin said. "I need you all to stay here and help me protect the island incase the Equalists decided to attack here."

"The White Lotus can do that." Korra said. "Tenzin is in danger. You know what Amon will do to him if he's captured."

Lin let out a sigh.

"Alright," she said. "But please be careful, all of you."

Korra gave her a nod and Lin watched as she and her friends run for the docks. A few moments later, the captain of the White Lotus ran over to her.

"Chief Bei Fong, I just tried to contact the police, but I can't get through to the station." he said.

"The Equalists must have shut all the phone lines down, it's up to us to keep everyone here safe." Lin said. "Send half of your team to the docks to get your ship ready for the air acolyte to evacuate. Keep the other half up here in case the Equalists decide to attack."

"Yes Chief." The captain said before running back to the White Lotus quarters.

"Lin, what's going on? Is the city really under attack?"

Lin turned around and saw Pema standing on the balcony with the kids at her side and Ying Na and Ketu standing behind her.

"Yes, and we need to get off this island," she said. "I need everyone to go pack and be ready to leave as soon as possible. The White Lotus are preparing their ship to get all the air acolytes off the island."

Pema looked at her fearfully for a second, then gave her a nod and turned to the kids.

"You all go and pack enough clothes for a week and your play bags." she said. "We're going to go stay with Gran Gran."

The kids left for their rooms while Pema turned to Ying Na and Ketu.

"Go and tell the air acolytes what's going on and to be at the docks in ten minutes." she said.

They nodded and left for their respective dormitories while Pema went to her and Tenzin's bedroom to pack their clothes. A few minutes later, Oogi finally touched down in the

courtyard and Tenzin immediately jumped off with Korra and everyone else climbing off behind him.

"Lin, the Equalists are on their way here!" he said. "I managed to send a wire to General Iroh and the United Forces before the phone lines went down, but we need to get everyone off the island now!"

"Your family is already packing," she said. "Go help your wife and children get everything onto the bison, you're leaving in five minutes."

Tenzin gave her a nod and ran inside the house as Lin turned to the Avatar, her nephew, and their friends.

"You all need to go into hiding while Tenzin and I take the family to the Pole." she said.

"No way, we can't let the Equalists win!" Korra said.

"We're not. Amon may have won this battle, but he's not going to win the war." Lin said. "We'll returned once we get Pema and the kids to the South Pole and with the help of the United Forces, bring down the Equalists once and for all."

A few minutes later, the last of the air acolytes were boarding the White Lotus's ship and Tenzin was helping Pema onto Oogi while their children leaped onto the bison. After he

got everyone settled, he leaped off the bison and gave Korra one last hug, telling her to stay safe. As he was doing this, Lin walked over to Baatar and, to his surprise, pulled

him into a hug.

"Please stay safe kid, your mother would never forgive me if anything ever happened to you." she said.

"I will, Aunt Lin. I promise." he said.

After a few moments, she released him, climbed onto Oogi, and turned to Tenzin.

"Tenzin, we need to leave now." she said.

Tenzin leaped onto the bison.

"Oogi, yip yip!" he commanded.

The bison leaped into the air and Lin watched as the island became smaller and smaller, she watched as the White Lotus's ship left the dock, carrying the rest of the island's

residents to safety, and when Oogi got high enough in the sky, she watched as the two Equalists airships that had been flying towards the island turned and began to fly towards

them.

"Tenzin, they're coming!" she cried.

She heard him command Oogi to go faster just as one of the airships shot a large net at them. Lin shot one of her cables at the net, tearing it to shreds and wrapping her cable

around the rope it was attached to. She stood up and turned to see the frighten looks on the faces on Pema and her children and knew she had to do something to give them

and Tenzin enough time to escape. Turning away, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before turning back to her ex.

"Whatever happens to me, don't turn back!" she shouted

She heard Tenzin cry out her name as she ran down the bison's tale and leap towards the airship to meet her fate.

**Endnote: and we all know what happens next!**

**Before I go, all the previous chapters have been updated if you want to go back and read them. Most of the updates are just clean ups or small changes that you won't notice, the one difference is the scene in chapter 3 between Tenzin and Lin. I go further into what their relationship was like after they broke up and why it is the way it is now. **

**And for those of you who are wondering why I didn't include the two important scenes from the episode in this chapter (the fight scene between Lin, the air babies, and the Equalists and the birth of Rohan), it's because I'm terrible at writing fight scenes and rather than subject you all to my lame attempt at it, I decided to cut it entirely. As for the other scene I skipped, (SPOILER ALERT!) baby Rohan will be making his debut in the next chapter.**

**Until next time, thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a review. **

**Bye! **

**Ruby Sapphire Rose **


	12. Dreams, A New Life, and Giving In

**The dream sequence is in **_**italics. **_

**Also, I'm not a doctor and have only basic medical knowledge, so I apologize now if I get anything related to childbirth wrong in this chapter. **

**Enjoy!**

_Lin stared at the house in front of her, a house she knew all too well. This was the house that she and Izayoi had bought after feeling their baby kick for the first time and _

_realized that their family was going to be too big for their small apartment. The house were they planned to teach their child either eathbending or firebending once the child _

_showed their first sign of bending. And the house that she had been renting out since losing her wife and son because as much as she never wanted to step foot in the house _

_again, she didn't have the will to part with it either. She didn't know why the Equalists had dumped her here or how they knew about this house. All she knew was that she had _

_to find somewhere to hide so that she could recover and figure out what to do next and right now, this house was her only option. Taking a deep breath and preparing herself, _

_Lin walked up to the front door and was about to go inside when she heard a voice coming from the backyard. Knowing that there wasn't suppose to be anybody in the house _

_since her last renters, a waterbending couple, had sent her a note with their last rent check telling her that they were leaving the city until things died down, Lin ran to the back _

_of the house and prepared to confront the squatter. When she got near the backyard, she peaked around the side of the house and saw a boy practicing his firebending with his _

_back to her. After shooting off several flames, the boy turned around and Lin's breath caught in her throat. The boy, who looked to be around Jinora's age, had eyes that Lin _

_would recognize anywhere. One look at those golden orbs and Lin instantly knew who the boy was. The boy glanced in her direction and Lin quickly ducted behind the wall, her _

_mind trying to process what she had just seen. She heard footsteps coming toward her, then a voice say, _

"_Mama, is that you? Why are you hiding?" _

_Still trying to gather her thoughts, Lin stepped out from behind the wall and looked at the boy who she has last seen ten years ago as a baby dying in her arms. _

"_Sokka?" she said. _

"_Yeah Mama?" he asked. _

_Before Lin could stop herself, she knelt in front of her son and pulled him into her arms, hugging him tight. _

"_Mama, you're squishing me!" Sokka said. _

_But Lin just kept hugging him, afraid that Sokka would disappear if she let go of him. When she finally pulled away from him, she looked into his now very confused eyes. _

"_Mama, what's going on?" Sokka asked. "You're acting really weird." _

_Lin gave him a small smile. _

"_I'm sorry buddy, I'm just really happy to see you." she said. _

"_I am too, Mama," Sokka said. "But what are you doing here? Mom said you're weren't coming home for a long time." _

_Lin could feel her heart leap in her chest. _

"_Your mother is here too?" she asked. _

"_Yeah, she's inside with the baby. You wanna go see her?" Sokka asked. _

"_Yes, please." she said, trying not to sound as desperate as she was to see her wife. _

_She stood up as Sokka grabbed her hand and led her into the house. Lin followed him through the house, savoring the feeling of his smaller hand holding onto her's, until they stopped in front of the door to one of the bedrooms. The one her and Izayoi had picked out to be Sokka's room. _

"_You'll have to whisper," he told her. "She's trying to put the baby to sleep." _

_Lin nodded and Sokka slowly opened the door watched as Lin walked inside and saw a sight that she thought she would never see. Izayoi was sitting in a rocking chair, rocking back and forth and humming softly to the bundle of blankets in her arms that held a small baby. She looked up at the sound of the door opening and smiled when she saw Lin. _

"_Hello love," she said. _

_Lin just stood there, not believe that the woman she loved was right in front of her, looking just as beautiful was the day that Lin lost her. Izayoi got out of the chair and walked over to the crib that was sitting next to the chair and placed the baby in the soft bedding, then walked over to Lin and pulled her into a kiss. Lin wrapped her arms around her wife, never wanting to let her go. But Izayoi pulled back, holding Lin's face in her hands. _

"_I've missed you so much, Linny," she said. "But there's something I need to tell you while we still have time." _

_Lin felt her heart sink into her stomach. _

"_So I can't stay here?" she said. _

_Izayoi looked at her sadly. _

"_I'm afraid not, love. You're still needed in the physical world," she said. "And when you return, you need to move on from me and Sokka." _

"_But..." Lin began. _

_Izaoyi placed a finger on her lips, silencing her. _

"_No buts, Linny. I know how much you miss us and you've done an amazing job keeping our memories alive," she said. "But if you spend the rest of your life grieving for what you lost, you never recognize or get to experience the love that's been standing right in front of you." _

_Lin was about to ask her what she was talking about when she heard a soft coo coming from the crib. Izayoi walked over to crib, reaching inside and started softly stroking the baby's cheek. _

"_Shh, little one," she said quietly. _

_She looked over at Lin, who was now standing next to her and looking down at the baby. While Izayoi had been pregnant, they had talked about the possibility of having more children after Sokka._

"_Izzy," she said. "Was this baby supposed to be ours?" _

_Izayoi smiled and shook her head. _

"_No, this little one is a young soul who has not yet lived. I'm just caring for it until it is ready to enter the physical world." _

_Just then, the room began to darken and Sokka ran over to his mothers. _

"_Mom, Mama, what's going on?" he said in a scared voice. _

_Izayoi reached down and stroked his hair. _

"_It's okay sweetie," she said. "Its just almost time for Mama to go." _

"_But she just got here," Sokka said. "I wanted to show her my firebending." _

"_I know, but it's only goodbye for now and when she comes back, she'll get to stay forever." Izayoi said. _

_He turned to Lin. _

"_You promise Mama?" he said. "You promise you'll stay forever when you come back?" _

_Lin reached down and picked up him up, setting him on her hip and placing a kiss on his forehead. _

"_I promise Sokka, when I come back, it will be for good." she said. _

_She turned back to Izayoi and pulled her back into her arms, hugging both her and Sokka. She felt Izayoi wrap her arms around her and their son move to wrap one arm around each of their necks. _

"_I love you both so much." Lin said. _

"_I love you too Mama." Sokka said. _

"_I will always love you, Linny." Izayoi said. _

_Lin's hold on her wife and son grew tighter as the room grew darker and darker. Just before she completely lost sight and the feeling of them, she heard Izayoi's softly say, _

"_She loves you too, Linny."_

* * *

The sound of her cell door being opened brought Lin out of her dream.

"Wake up and meet your cellmate, Bei Fong!" she heard the guard shout out.

Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, Lin turned over on the metal cot she was laying on, her heart sinking when she saw whom the guard was gripping by the shoulder of. He

roughly shoved Pema into the cell and Lin quickly jumped off the cot and ran over to her, catching her before he hit the ground.

"And don't even ask her to free you from here. Amon already took her building, so she's useless." the guard said before slamming the cell door.

Lin turned to Pema.

"What are you doing here?" Lin said. "I saw you all get away."

Pema shook her head sadly.

"We thought we were safe after you stopped those two airships, but when we reached the city limits, another one caught up to us and had us in their net before we even knew what was happening," Pema said. "Afterwards, they took us back to the island and separated the children and I from Tenzin. They took us to the basement and locked us in there for the rest of the night. In the morning, two of them came and said they were taking me to the kitchen to make breakfast for the Equalists stationed there and if I didn't try anything, they would let me take some food back to the kids. I obeyed ever command they gave me and was allowed to take some bread and jam when they took me back to the basement. But when we got there and opened the door, one of the equalists grabbed me while the other took the food and threw it down into the basement before slamming the door."

Tears starting forming in Pema's eyes as she continued.

"I kept screaming at them to take me back to my children, but they just told me to be quiet and put me in one of their speedboats. I asked them where they were taking me and one of them said that since Tenzin was refusing to tell them where Korra was, they were taking me here until he revealed where she was. I tried to tell them that none of us knew where Korra and her friends were, but they didn't believe me. Then, as they were putting me in the car to take me here, one of them told me that he heard the Lieutenant saying that unless Tenzin told them what he wanted to hear, Amon was going to take away our children's bending one by one in front of him!"

She turned to Lin, tears pouring down her face.

"Amon wouldn't do that, would he?" she said. "He can't be so cruel that he would take away the bending of children."

Lin didn't know how to answer her. She knew that Amon didn't care whether Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo were children. He was going to the take their bending and Lin had a feeling

that if wouldn't matter what Tenzin told him.

"Come on, you need to calm down," she said as she led Pema over to the cot and helped her sit down. "I'm sure that Equalist was just saying that to scare you and I both know that Tenzin would do anything in his power to keep Amon from taking the kids' bending."

Pema didn't say anything; she just laid her head on Lin's shoulder and cried. Lin didn't know what to do other than gently wrap her arm around Pema's shoulder and hope her

words had given her at least a little comfort.

* * *

For the next three days, the women sat in the cell in mostly silence, the only other people they saw being the guards that brought them cold rice three times a day. With each

passing day, Pema grew more uncomfortable and barely ate anything. Lin could only hope that she was just stressed about what her husband and children might be going

through and these were not the signs of what she feared it was.

* * *

On the morning their forth day in captivity, Lin was awoken not by the sound of the guard dropping off their morning rice, but of Pema moaning on the metal cot next to the

spot on the floor where Lin had sleeping since giving Pema the cot. Sitting up and stretching the cricks out of her back, Lin tuned to Pema, who was sitting up on the cot and

holding her lower back.

"You okay?" she asked.

Pema nodded through her grimace of pain.

"Yeah, the baby's just kicking me really hard is all." she said.

"Are you sure?" Lin said.

"Positive," Pema said. "Trust me, I experienced this plenty of times with my first three pregnancies," Pema said.

Lin just nodded, hoping Pema was right, and got up to get the rice that had just been silently left by the guard before walking back over to Pema, handing her one of the bowls,

and sitting down next to her to eat her breakfast.

* * *

But as morning turned into afternoon and Pema's moaning became more frequent, Lin knew that what she had feared the most was becoming a reality. After hearing one of

Pema's moans become a groan of pain, she got up from where she had been sitting on the cot and walked over to Pema, who had been pacing since breakfast, trying to relieve

the pain in her back. She placed her hands on Pema's shoulders and looked her in the eye.

"Okay Pema, you and I both know this isn't the baby kicking you anymore," she said. "How long have you been in labor?"

Tears starting forming in Pema's eyes.

"Since sunrise," she said. "Oh Lin, what are we going to do? I don't want to have my baby here!"

"I don't think this kid is going to give us much of a choice," Lin said. "Come on, let's get you settled."

She guided Pema over to the cot as the guard came carrying a tray holding two bowl of rice.

"We need some help in here," she told the guard. "This woman is in labor."

"The healer is over on Air Temple Island treating the people who were injured when you caused our airship to crash," the guard said nonchalantly.

"Well get him back over here!" Lin near shouted. "She could have this baby at any moment and I don't know a thing about childbirth!"

"No, I'm not going to pull him away from treating my equalists brothers and sisters for some airbending breading bitch." The guard said.

Just then, Lin heard one of the doors open and a voice call out,

"Come on, Amon needs every available person at the stadium for the rally."

The guard gave the unseen equalist a nod and turned back to Lin.

"I'll be back this evening with your rice," he said. "And to remove the bodies."

The guard left the cell and Lin slammed her fists into the door as soon as it closed, letting out a frustrating scream.

"Lin..." Pema said in a weak voice.

Lin turned back to the air acolyte, who was clutching her stomach and letting out another groan of pain, and quickly walked back over to the cot, sat down, and took the hand

that Pema wasn't using to clutch her stomach into her own.

"I'm here Pema," she said. "I promise, we'll get through this."

* * *

An hour later, Pema had removed her underwear, pulled off her red sashes, and pushed the top part of her robes down to her waist, leaving her upper body in nothing but her

biddings. As she tried to best to breathe through a contraction that had happened less than a couple minutes since the previous one, Lin knew it wouldn't be long now.

"Pema, look at me." she said.

Letting out one last breath, Pema turned her sweat soaked face towards Lin.

"I'll do whatever I can to help both of you, but I don't know the first thing about delivering babies. So you're going to have to help me through this, okay?" she said.

Unable to speak, Pema just nodded. A minute later, she let out a scream and gripped Lin's hand so hard that Lin's fingers turned purple.

"What is it?!" she asked. "What's happening?"

"This is it!" Pema said. "It's coming!"

Lin quickly let go of her hand and moved down in front of her. She lifted up Pema's long skirt and saw the top of the baby's head start to appear from between Pema's legs.

"All right Pema," she said. "What do I need to do?"

"I'm going...to push...on the...next...contraction. Put...your hands...under the head...and guide it out...while counting...to ten." Pema said between breaths. "Tell me...when...the head...is out."

Lin nodded and placed her hands at Pema's opening.

"Okay, I'm ready." She said.

Pema gripped the edge of the cot with both hands, took a deep breath, and pushed hard while Lin counted, letting out the breath when she reached ten. When the next

contraction came a moment later, she took another breath and pushed again, letting out a cry of pain while Lin once again counted to ten.

"One more push and the head should be out." Lin said.

Pema nodded, feeling another contraction coming. She pushed to the count of ten and let out a breath as Lin caught the baby's head in her hands.

"Okay, the head is out." Lin said.

Pema picked up one of the sashes that was in her lap and handed it to Lin.

"Need to...clean out...the nose...and mouth," she said breathlessly. "I will...guide you...through it...just remember to...keep supporting...the head...and neck."

Lin followed Pema's instructions step by step and gently cleaned out the baby's nose and mouth with one hand while support the head with the other. When she was sure they

were clear, she placed the sash on the cot next to Pema.

"Get...ready," Pema said. "Once...the shoulders...are free...the rest...of the baby...will slip out...quickly."

Lin nodded and prepared herself as Pema took a breath and pushed hard, letting out another cry.

"One of the shoulders is out," Lin said. "One more big push like that and we'll be done."

Pema gripped the edge of the cot, took one last deep breath, and pushed with everything she had, letting out a scream as her baby slipped into Lin's hands. Lin stared in shock

at the child she had just help bring into the world for a few moments, but was quickly brought back to reality as his first cries of life filled the cell. She took the other sash from

Pema's lap wrapped him up the best she could before holding him up towards an exhausted Pema.

"You have another son." she said.

Pema quickly took the baby and placed him on her chest as tears of relief and happiness fell down her checks.

"Hello my beautiful sweet baby boy," she said.

She removed her upper bindings and moved the baby to her breast. As the baby latched on and began to nurse, she tensed up.

"Pema?" Lin asked, concerned.

"It's okay," Pema said. "Just get the sash that you used to clean out his nose and mouth and hold it under me."

Lin did what she was told and a minute later, caught what looked like a bloody bag.

"What is this?" she asked, grimacing in disgust.

"The afterbirth," Pema said. "Usually the cord would be tied off and cut before it comes out, but it's okay to put that off for a little while longer. Just place it next to me."

Lin placed the bloody sash on the cot while Pema turned back to the baby and pulled him away from her chest when he turned away from her breast.

"Looks like he's done for now." she said as she placed him on her shoulder.

After softly patting his back for a few minutes, she turned to Lin.

"Can you hold him while I get dressed?" she asked.

Lin sat down next to her on the cot, making sure to stay as far as she could from the sash holding the afterbirth, and held out her arms. Pema placed her baby inside them,

gently reminding Lin to support his head. Lin had prepared herself for the likelihood that the baby would probably cry his head off the second he was away from his mother. But

to her surprise, he remained quiet and even tried his best to snuggle into her metal covered chest. It reminded her of that night in the hospital nursery and Sokka doing the

same thing as his body shut down.

"Lin," Pema said, bringing Lin out of her thoughts. "Are you okay?"

Lin looked up and saw that Pema was now fully clothed except for her sashes.

"Sorry," Lin said, handing her the baby.

Pema smiled sadly.

"He would be Jinora's age now, right?" she asked. "Your son?"

Lin was surprised, but nodded anyway.

"You know, Tenzin came back to the island that day after Korra healed you and kept going on and on about how you shouldn't be celebrating Izayoi's birthday and needed to move on with your life," Pema said. "I didn't tell him that I had wished her a happy birthday that morning during meditation."

Lin turned to her.

"You still think about her?" she asked.

"She had been the sister I never had since we were three years old. I may have moved on with my life, but I'll never forget our friendship and how much she meant to me." Pema said. "When I returned to the island the morning after leaving the hospital, Tenzin was furious and wouldn't even listen to me when I told him that Izayoi and your baby were gone. I was angry with him, but I let it go because I was tired and grieving the loss of my best friend. Then a few days later, after I gave birth, I told Tenzin that I wanted to name our baby after Izayoi and I thought he would honor my wishes in light of what had happened. But when I woke up the next morning, I found out that he had named her Jinora, a name that I have never agreed to. I was so angry that I didn't speak to him for days. The final straw was when he wouldn't allow me to go to Izayoi's funeral and told me that it was time for me to stop grieving and move on."

"That seems to be a favorite saying of his." Lin said.

"The next day, when he was at a council meeting, I packed up my and Jinora's things and left the island with her, leaving him a note that we would be at my parents' house in Omashu and to come and get us when he learned how to be a good husband." Pema said.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, when did he come and convince you to come to the island?" Lin asked.

Pema let out a sigh.

"He never did," she said. "After a month of my parents pressuring me to make up with him because it was better for Jinora for us to be together, I moved back to the island and into one of the guest rooms far away from the master bedroom. I made it clear to Tenzin that even though I came back to the island on my own, I wasn't coming back to his bed until he proved that things were going to change."

Lin didn't ask whether or not Tenzin had changed, she already knew the answer.

"He promised me he would, but he never made the attempt and after a year and a half of his begging, I finally gave in and moved back into our room. A year later, I got pregnant with Ikki." Pema said.

"Did you ever talk to him about changing his ways again?" Lin asked.

Pema shrugged.

"I tried to, he would always change the subject when I did and after a while, I knew he was never going to change and gave up trying to make him." she said.

"Did you ever try to leave him again?" Lin asked.

"No, but I thought about it a lot. Every time he's gotten me so upset that I think about taking the kids and leaving," she said. "After both of my parents passed away, I never thought about leaving again since there was no where for us to go to if I did."

Lin turned to her.

"Do you still love him?" she asked.

Pema turned to her and was about to answer when they both heard a commotion outside of their cell. Lin immediately got up and prepared to defend them from whoever came

through the door. A second later, the door blew open and Lin relaxed when she saw Tenzin and the kids on the other side.

"Mommy!" the kids cried out and they ran over to her.

"Easy kids, your mom's been through a lot." Lin said.

That's when Tenzin saw the small bundle in his wife's arms.

"Pema," he said. "Is that...?"

Pema nodded.

"Come meet our son, Tenzin." she said.

Tenzin quickly walked over to the cot and gazed at his new son for a few moments, then reached out and softly stroked his cheek.

"He's beautiful." he said.

"What are you going to name him?" Jinora asked as she and her sister and brother looked at the baby.

"Can I pick?" Ikki asked.

Pema smiled at them.

"Your father and I have already chosen a name." she said.

Tenzin nodded in agreement.

"Everyone, say hello to Rohan." he said.

Lin watched as the sibling's bond with their new brother before turning back to Tenzin.

"What happened?" Lin asked. "How did you get away?"

"The equalists took us to the arena and brought us on stage!" Meelo said excitedly. "Amon was going to take away our bending when General Iroh shot a bolt of lightening at him and then General Iroh and Korra firebended onto the stage and General Iroh and Daddy fought Amon while Korra firebended the chains off us and took us away!"

Lin looked at Tenzin.

"Korra was there?" she said.

"She and Iroh were creating a diversion for Amon while the kids and I got away. Once we need get Pema and the kids back to the island and radio the White Lotus, I'm coming back to help them." he said.

Lin gave him a nod and after helping Tenzin gathering up Pema and Rohan, they all walked outside, where Lin found a working car to get them to the docks. When they got

there, they found the only ferry that hadn't been destroyed in the attack and quickly boarded it. A moment later, Tenzin was airbending the sails while Lin steered them towards

the island.


End file.
